”Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would
still plant my apple tree,” said 15th century German monk, Martin
Luther. But the once-famed Garden City does not seem to have such
citizens any more, as sapling after sapling planted to keep the streets
tree-lined by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) every year,
dies because there is no one to care for them.

The BBMP has set
aside Rs 1 crore just to plant saplings along the roads of the city.
Over and above this, the state budget has set aside Rs 20 crore to plant
trees across the city via the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited
(BMRCL).

But BBMP officials themselves point out that they are  in
desperate need of citizen support to maintain even the existing
saplings. A source says that every year,  lakhs of saplings are planted
within BBMP limits, but survival rate is hardly 10 per cent. ”In the
last four years, 7.35 lakh saplings have been planted. The BBMP spends
Rs 250 per seedling. From 2009-10, Rs 18.37 crore has been expended on
planting saplings. But not more than 10 per cent have survived,” he
rues.

One of the reasons for the poor rate of survival is that the
BBMP authorities are planting saplings in the off-season, either at the
end of monsoon or after monsoon. But saplings are more often than not
eaten by stray cattle, as there are insufficient tree guards to protect
every sapling in the city.

Another problem is that even saplings
with tree guards do not survive harsh summers with no one to water them,
while in some places, tree guards are placed in such a bad manner that
the sapling gets neither sunlight nor air (see box).

”We are in
need for any kind of help that individuals or organisations can give us
over the care of saplings. They can donate tree guards or maintain an
entire stretch of their choice and we will give them credit for this. In
BTM Layout and in other parts of South Bangalore, some people have come
forward to maintain stretches of trees; we hope others also respond to
our call,” says Brijesh Kumar, chief  conservator of forests (BBMP).

Metal
tree guards cost Rs 1,500 each and those installed in several places
have been stolen.  BBMP has been wringing its hands trying to raise the
money to get more. Further, sources point out that the BBMP’s forest
wing is terribly short-staffed, so guarding the trees or watering them
is a near impossible task.

But the public feels that the
responsibility of maintenance is not theirs. A senior professor from a
college which has contributed tree guards to BBMP  says they have put up
metal guards as part of their social responsibility.  “But guards are
stolen during the night and sold to scrap dealers. Our job is not to
protect the guards, we just donated them,” he contends.

The
professor also points out that  BBMP has put the name of their  college
on the guards. “Some of the plants  dried. It is  the duty of BBMP to
water them. With the name of our college on the guard, the public thinks
that we are not maintaining them. We wanted to take up more of such
initiatives, but because of these reasons, we are hesitant to take up
any,” he adds.

Noted environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy however
feels that maintaining saplings and trees is entirely the duty of the
BBMP. “If they do not have sufficient people to take care of the
saplings, trees or tree guards, let them outsource the task. Let them
give it to private contractors who should water the plants and maintain
guards. If any plant dries, they should make sure to replace another
plant from the same species,” he says. Reddy rues that the existing
trees are also struggling to survive in Bangalore. ”The density of
population is high and an enormous number of vehicles hit the road,
causing injury to plants and trees which has become common,” Reddy adds.

At
present, around 15 organisations have provided tree guards on some of
the roads. Some of them include educational institutions in central 
Bangalore and some IT companies in Bommanahalli and Mahadevapura zones.

BBMP, however, is beating the old drum and is hoping for public support.

A
senior official says, “Individuals and organisations can even select
number of plants, type of guards- metal or bamboo —  that they want to
support with. We are ready to give them technical know-how, link them to
tree guard manufacturers, etc. We are ready to give upto 500 free
seedlings for institutions and upto 50 for an individual to maintain,”
he says.

Those interested can contact, 080-23612201