Credit: Special Arrangement
Frequent visitors to Cubbon Park have reported seeing trees being cut over the past few weeks.
This follows a series of cases of falling trees, across Bengaluru, injuring public and damaging property.
“I spotted a pile of freshly cut logs and heard a power axe in use,” says Zeisha Amlani, a resident of Indiranagar, who visited the park in early May. Workers informed her that they were instructed to cut down all trees that were dried up. They explained that a branch had reportedly fallen on a walker’s head and landed him in a coma, Zeisha recalls.
Metrolife spoke to environmentalists and scientists to weigh in on the danger posed by dried up trees. “Pruning is fine. Just because a branch has fallen, a whole tree does not need to be cut down,” says T V Ramachandra of the Energy and Wetlands Research Group, IISc, adding, “We should insist they replace the trees that have been cut down with native species. They are hardy and their branches won’t fall,” he explains. He further states that the opinion of the public must be considered before making such decisions.
Umesh Kumar of the Cubbon Park Walkers Association shares, “There is no transparency when it comes to these decisions.”
Akshay Heblikar, director at EcoWatch, believes the horticulture department, which oversees the upkeep of the park, is in need of more manpower and better equipment. “The maintenance and monitoring department has to be strengthened. Their jobs need to be made easier,” he says. He adds that the public must work with the government to report cases of dead and decaying trees which could potentially pose a threat.