The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Police station site now host to peepal tree

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Monday, Aug 04, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Police station site now host to peepal tree

M. Raghuram

Efforts on to save trees in danger of being felled

Over 40 trees have been transplanted in the city successfully
BBMP has identified at least 95 trees for transplantation

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

NEW LIFE: A 20-year-old peepal tree being transplanted from Race Course Road to where the High Grounds Police Station once stood, in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: The place where the old High Grounds Police Station stood on Sunday became home to a large peepal tree.

The peepal, which stood for a quarter of a century on the Race Course Road opposite the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, was transplanted to the corner of Palace Road and Sankey Road in a simple operation.

A crane transported the magnificent foliage and placed it in the large pit dug by a waiting excavator. The operation, supervised by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), began at 5.30 p.m. and was over in less than an hour.

The Race Course Road is being widened and as a result, trees are being removed.

Ray of hope

Speaking to The Hindu, BBMP Commissioner S. Subramanya said: “The transplantations have been going on quietly for some time. Over 40 trees have been transplanted successfully, which has come as a ray of hope in saving the old trees that are in the danger of being felled for some reason or the other, mainly road widening.

The idea is to save as many trees as possible in the city. As long as the tree has soft wood on the main trunk it could transplanted in some other place. Mr. Subramanya said the ideal place for translocation was parks, empty places in the city and lung spaces. The BBMP has identified these places in the city he added.

Decades old

The city’s roads, which are being widened, are losing their trees planted decades ago, and some of them are as old as 50 to 75 years.

The BBMP has identified at least 95 trees on three different roads in the city for transplantation.

According to BBMP Tree Officer S. Shekar, “It is a crime to cut big trees and sell them as timber. The BBMP has adequate expertise in transplanting large trees from one place to another.”

The BBMP plans to transplant 15 trees from Sarjapur Road, 45 from Palace Road, 25 on NICE corridor and rest in Nagarabavi and other areas.

Speaking to The Hindu, Minister of Ecology and Ports Krishna Palemar said he would soon talk to the BBMP officials if their expertise could be shared with the other civic bodies in the State where several development work are taken up.

The private sector has also joined the tree transplantation movement. S.V.L. Prasad, Manager, Horticulture, at the Taj West End Hotels, said some of the trees from the Race Course Road have been replanted in the estate of the Taj West End Hotel.

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