BANGALORE: Even while environmentalists are protesting the felling of trees on the roads, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has come up with series of promises to make Bangalore greener.This year, the BBMP has proposed to develop tree parks in all the zones in a phased manner. In the recent budget, the BBMP emphasised on developing trees in parks. The BBMP has allocated Rs 10 crore for the same.A senior BBMP official from the horticulture department of the BBMP said that in their agenda, there will be no lawns, fountains and landscaping. “Lawns need more water. Maintenance is also a problem. Lawns only look good — it neither holds moisture in the soil nor produces a cool atmosphere like trees. When we have our own space for parks in all the locality, we decided to plant saplings,” the official added.According to R Anjanappa, chairman, BBMP standing committee for horticulture, parks that are more than half an acre in area will be selected. “We have told our zonal officers to identify such parks where we can plant saplings,” he said.However, he said that they will not choose ornamental plants. Anjanappa is confident in developing such tree parks soon. The budget also proposes to plant six lakh saplings for which they are going to involve NGOs, schools, colleges and public institutions.Interestingly, in its previous budget (2010-11), the BBMP made a promise to plant five lakh saplings, of which they could meet only 3.08 lakh saplings. Not just this, the BBMP also proposed to take up tree mapping to have an acute and scientific data of trees and saplings.When contacted an official from the forest department of the BBMP said that they are planting saplings. “It is our responsibility to plant saplings and make sure it will grow and become trees.We have made enough arrangements for tree guards to protect saplings from cattle. But there are people who are lifting the guards which are made of iron,” the official said.Another official from the same department said that the BBMP has sought support from private firms to take up construction of tree pits in the city. “With tree pits, the water absorption capacity will increase. But the pits will be an additional burden for us. So we decided to seek help from private firms for 3,000 trees,” the official said.Environmentalists vote for tree parks. Vinay Srinivasa of Hasiru Usiru said that it is good that the BBMP is planning to develop tree parks.“At this same time they should stop cutting trees. A city like Bangalore needs more trees,” he said.
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