Harming A Tree Even Without Cutting It…
We have been hearing a lot about the harm done to the city by cutting trees down; but what the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike doesn’t realize is that lack of imagination can harm the existing trees as much, even where they have been spared.
In many places, the BBMP has tarred the footpath right up to the bark of the tree, like in this picture:
What happens is that the tree now has no room to grow, nor will water and nutrients percolate through that tar and cement to the tree..in effect, the tree is getting strangled.
Janet Yegneshwaran, whom Anita Bora wrote about earlier, particularly asked me to mention tihs, and so I went and took a photograph to illustrate it too.
All trees should have a small gap left between their trunks and the perimeter of the cement cast around them.
BBMP..you have done a good job of sparing these trees, now let them live and flourish, as well!
A good picture and write-up. It should be an eyeopener not only to the civic body, particularly the horticulture wing, but also to the green groups.
The photo shows how the footpath is tarred up to the tree bark, virtually suffocating it and ensuring its slow death.
There are many such instances in Hyderabad where well grown avenue tress which used to provide shade and soothing to the eyes were felled and uprooted indiscriminately for road widening. One feels sorry when one witnesses cable wires chokingly tied to plants on the road-dividers, like a noose round the neck, at many places.
The sad part of crass commercialisation is tying glowsign ad boards to tress and plants on the road sides and on road medians and even digging green carpets on the road dividers to make room for advertisement sign boards. When current passes through these cables for glowing boards, one shudders at the thought of the plight of plants.
Scenes like these can be found everywhere, even on the Raj Bhavan Road where the Governor’s residence is located and important areas like Begumpet, Kundanbaag etc where VVIPS stay. At many places one comes across tress cut and felled for huge ad boards. One fears to imagine what it is like in the rest of the state, when green consciousness is so low in capital city Hyderabad.
If you save the plants, plants will save you.
I appreciate your writeup on the sincere effort of making the readers understand the niche values of tree growth on road side that we dont give a second thought into.
We are passionate bout greenery and are presently putting our full time into a project that is associated to saving, growth and developement of forest and greenery.
We welcome you to visit our website http://www.brandaid.net.in and learn more on our project as this would surely interest you.
All the very best.
Well I would say tree would still survive and grow. Young saplings need protection, water, etc, but these big trees are real survivors, I have seen these trees breaking down compound walls, tear up tarmac which were obstacles to their growth. I bet the footpath concrete around the tree will be broken in a year or two.
Cheers
N