No wind or rain, yet Bengaluru’s trees are fast falling

BENGALURU: Forget wind or storm, there is no breeze in Bengaluru, but trees are falling like dominoes in the city. Last week alone, at least two to three tree falls were reported from various localities.
Tree conservationists, however, aren’t baffled by this phenomenon, ironically happening in a season when only leaves should fall.
Tree expert Vijay Nishanth attributes unseasonal tree falls to three reasons: concretisation, unscientific pruning and aged trees.
"Indiscriminate asphalting and concretisation of areas around the base of tree trunks leave little space for them to grow and tie up their roots. Unscientific pruning results in trees transferring their weight on to one side and over the years, they start to bend. BBMP is supposed to conduct a census to identify dead and decaying trees so that they can be cut. But they are yet to do it," explained Nishanth.
A horticulture department official also confirmed that the Palike concretises areas around the base of tree trunks as part of infrastructure work, preventing them from getting nutrients.
"The tree canopy has to be of the same size as the spread of the roots. But, these days, the roots are spread over a small area and they cannot bear the weight of the huge canopies, causing them to uproot," he added.
According to the official, many trees in the city are over 60 years old. "They are developing new diseases like apple scab, Dothistroma needle blight, lethal yellowing, and powdery mildew, which would earlier be found only in foreign trees," he said.
Around 5.30am on Tuesday, a 50-foot-tall rain tree was uprooted in Vidyapeeta, south Bengaluru. It landed on the compound wall of an adjacent residence. Locals
said they had earlier complained to the civic body about the tree leaning to a side and the possibility of a collapse.
"We had informed Vidyapeeta councillor Shamala Saikumar about this and she, in turn, told forest officials, who chose to ignore the issue," said Ramesh SK, a resident of Vidyapeeta.
Nine days earlier, a 50-year-old banyan tree fell in Chamarajpet, leaving four cars completely damaged.
A senior BBMP official said lack of forest officials is making it difficult for them to conduct a tree census. "We need people to conduct the census. When there is staff shortage in the crucial engineering cell itself, how can we expect things to be better in the forest cell," he said.
Corporators, activists trade charges
BMP councillors, however, blamed residents and environment activists for not permitting felling of old trees. "Bengaluru south zone alone has more than 1,000 trees, which are really old and need to be cut as they pose threat to everyone in the vicinity. But when forest officials come to chop the trees, residents make a noise and file complaints. We are helpless," a councillor
from Basavanagudi assembly constituency said.
Residents, meanwhile, say BBMP isn’t above board either. "There are many NGOs collaborating with it and they plant saplings according
to their whims and fancies, but don’t maintain them. Some of these trees are getting uprooted though they aren’t even three years old," Kathyayini N, a resident of Jayanagar and environment activist, said.
The fall factor
Trees are infected, diseased
They are old
Haphazard digging of earth near trees causing root damage
Unscientific pruning of branches
Asphalting and concretisation around a full-grown tree