Bengaluru’s transformation from being the ‘garden city of India’ to becoming the country’s premier hub has left it waging an everyday battle against environmental pollution. And the latest addition to it is the illegally cutting of trees to make way for advertising billboards.
Several trees in the Outer Ring Road located between Marathahalli and Chinnappannahalli have been poisoned and their branches have been cut so that a billboard of an iPhone advertisement is clearly visible.
One such billboard being removed by BBMP officials:
“As many as 17 trees were poisoned and the branches of 13 others were chopped off by an advertising company to make the hoarding visible,” said Thimmappa, BBMP’s Assistant Conservator of Forests, Mahadevapura zone told The News Minute.
BBMP Forest Cell officials were informed by tree conservationist named Vijay Nishanth who has been spearheading a campaign against such billboards.
A similar incident happened on Monday when three main branches of a 35-year-old Gulmohar tree near the Siddapura gate of Lalbagh were cut by Renuka Yellamma temple authorities for a billboard. It was only after residents raised an alarm that the temple authorities accepted their ‘mistake’, reports The Times of India.
In March 2014, 15 healthy trees were axed on Trinity Circle on MG Road so that they don’t obstruct the view of an advertising hoarding. A BBMP official then said that no permission was taken by the advertisers to cut the trees, reports Bangalore Mirror.
(Feature image source: Twitter| Punjab Update)