Urban forester S.G. Neginhal succumbs to COVID-19

Many of Bengaluru’s tree-lined avenues and boulevards are his legacy

S.G. Neginhal.

Urban forester and Indian Forest Service officer (retired) S.G. Neginhal, 93, who played a pioneering role in greening the city in the 1980s, succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday morning. He passed away a day after his 93rd birthday on Saturday.

Most of the tree-lined avenues and boulevards in Bengaluru are the legacy of Mr. Neginhal. Unhappy at the loss of green cover due to growth of the city, then chief minister R. Gundu Rao had commissioned a greening campaign. The IFS officer was brought in to lead a special cell within the Forest Department to take up the assignment in 1981. In five years, he planted over 1.5 million trees. The campaign earned him so much fame that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi got trees from Neginhal to plant in Shakti Sthal, the memorial for former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Harini Nagendra, ecologist and Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University, said Mr. Neginhal must be credited with pioneering citizen participation in urban forestry in the country. “He went from house to house, asking people what trees they wanted to be planted. This encouraged them to take up ownership of those trees, evident by how they have survived,” she said.

Mr. Neginhal was also probably the last in the glorious tradition of tree planters in the city starting from colonial times. “For instance, his was the last campaign of such scale and also probably the last time such a wide variety of trees – from raintrees and bougainvilleas to akashamallige – were planted. Now, most of the trees planted are either neem or honge,” Ms. Nagendra said.

Leo Saldanha, of the Environment Support Group, said the only true tribute to Neginhal would be to fight harder to save the trees he had planted. Many are at risk of getting axed due to several development projects. In his retirement years, Neginhal would voice his opposition to tree-felling in the city.

Apart from greening the city, Mr. Neginhal is credited with spotting Kokkare Bellur and spearheading efforts to develop it as a bird sanctuary. He played a key role in Project Tiger and upgradation of Bandipur Reserve as a national park. In his later years, he took up wildlife photography and authored many books on urban forestry, wild trees of the Western Ghats, reserve forests and national parks in Karnataka.

Mr. Neginhal is survived by four daughters and a son, and their families.