23 November,2010 06:42 AM IST | | Nicholas Stone
The BBMP will plant 10 saplings to compensate for the fallen tree in Langford Town
Days after an 80-year-old peepul tree came crashing on a city bus, the BBMP's forestry department is working hard to turn Bangalore's tree woes around.
Big Fall: The peepul tree came crashing on a BMTC bus last week
The BBMP has decided to plant 10 saplings in a park in Langford Town to replace the fallen tree that made headlines last week. They also plan to crackdown on people caught tampering with trees by posting bills and advertisements on them with nails.
Gopala Swamy, chief engineer at the BBMP, said this was all part of a bundle of new measures designed to make the city safe from further such issues.u00a0
"We have set a target of one month to complete the task of removing advertising with nails from trees. From now on, we will bring criminal charges against people caught doing the same."
The BBMP is giving itself a time limit of one to two months to assess all the trees that are currently standing in the city to see what further work needs to be done and how much money needs to be assigned to the cause.
The forest department is doing this by running checks in all of the wards of the city to find dead, damaged and dangerous trees.
M Krishnappa, deputy conservator of forests, said that the BBMP is trying to turn around the situation proactively.u00a0 "We are trying to compensate for the problems we have had," he said.
Bangalore's place as the Garden City of India is being increasingly challenged as road widening and lack of upkeep is seeing many trees suffer the same fate as the one that fell.
This action has come in the wake of Commissioner Siddaiah's anger after the incident in Langford Town.
The BBMP forest department has 17 teams, with 10 members each, who will look after damaged trees, particularly after storms.
The teams have ropes, axes and power saws to trim and care for large trees that are showing signs of frailty. The BBMP also has emergency teams that can rush to the site of a tree fall.
50,000 number of trees Bangalore has lost in the last two years
