Bengaluru field checks clear 67 community planting applications

Of 394 applications seeking 54,623 saplings under Bengaluru Hasiruru, only 67 applications for 5,530 saplings met the Greater Bengaluru Authority’s site criteria after field verification.

Applications for 14,846 saplings were for locations outside the authority’s jurisdiction. Among the remaining proposals, officials found that many suggested sites had narrow lanes, concreted surroundings or drain-line hindrances. The checks also considered minimum area, minimum sapling numbers and the specifications of the saplings requested.

An official said location checks were being tightened after more than 1,000 trees were uprooted this year despite a weak monsoon. The aim, the official said, was to avoid planting that could later make streets unsafe.

The community drive, announced by Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, had targeted 64,000 saplings. Bengaluru’s civic bodies are required to plant one lakh saplings each year. Gowda said the annual plantation targets were not being translated into planting on the ground.

Corporations have now been asked to identify planting sites near lakes and on wider roads as part of this year’s quota. They will also maintain the saplings. There is currently no plan to reopen citizen registrations, though individuals have sought 3,265 saplings.