CLN is priviledged to publish Star of Mysore editor’s excellent article on the need for Tree Cover. In the last few months there has been an encouraging movement towards highlighting and solving the garbage problem in Kodagu, the need for regreening, including planting of trees across the length and breath of Kodagu, and celebration of Vana Mahotsava with meaningful environmental education. Furthermore even the MP Shri Yaduveer Wodeyar has receieved a positive response from the central government to address human-elephant conflict where Kodagu has been identified as a focus area.
These are small steps, but a meaningful beginging.
Our city is getting hotter with every passing year. As temperatures soared yesterday, the Karnataka Government advised citizens to turn into camels: “Drink sufficient water whenever possible, even if you are NOT thirsty.”
But where is the water to drink when our cities are as dry as a desert? Instead of just issuing some orders from their AC chambers in Vidhana Soudha, shouldn’t the Government authorities get their hands dirty and plant some ‘green guardians’ to fight this heat wave for the long haul?
It has been confirmed that trees are the only way to scuttle urban heat waves. Yet, our Government doesn’t do much to that end.
In 2013, scientists ran a simple experiment in Bengaluru. They compared stretches of roads with and without trees. It was found that the road stretches lined with trees had much lower surface and ambient air temperature. Of course, no one was surprised, but…
But what was surprising, though, is how much the temperature was reduced. The difference in road surface temperature was 21.5 degrees! The highest road surface temperature recorded in a segment with no trees was 55 degrees, while the segment with tree cover was 33.5 degrees.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in 2017, using Satellite imagery from 1973 to 2017, showed that there has been an 88 percent decline in green spaces in Bengaluru.
The same report warned that by 2020, only 2.96 percent of the green cover will remain in Bengaluru and added that in the future, this would make the “region greenhouse gas-rich, water scarce and unliveable, depriving the city dwellers of clean air, water and environment.” It’s come true.
Yet a reply to an RTI query revealed that the Bangalore Development Authority had not planted a single tree for two years, from 2017 to 2019, while simultaneously giving approvals for numerous layouts !
As more and more layouts are developed, more trees will be cut and Mysuru, like Bengaluru, is bound to get hotter.
It is the right time to make a case for turning large parks with garish statues, amateurish animal figurines and gaudy fountains into an urban forest with walking paths and ponds.
Mysuru, in 2021, had a forward-thinking officer — Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Dr. K.C. Prashanth Kumar, who had said that his Department had a blueprint for increasing green cover and even had planned urban forests within the city.
This urban forest concept was implemented on a small scale behind Cheluvamba Park at Vontikoppal. The Forest Department also identified Lalithadrinagar, KSRTC Layout, Vijayanagar 4th Stage and J.P. Nagar as areas with the potential to nurture urban forests. Dr. Prashanth Kumar left, and with him, the urban forest project.
The issue with us is that we constantly find a ‘workaround’ to a problem instead of demanding that our Governments solve the problem once and for all.
Let us start with water. Just a few decades ago, in the early 1990s, almost no one knew what a ‘submersible pump’ was. We all had an overhead tank to which MCC would provide a direct connection and a water meter, and we would have a steady supply of decently clean water.
Then, MCC’s water supply became erratic and the tax-paying middle class did not have time to protest, so we invested in ‘Plan B’ — a sump tank.
This article by was previous published in Star of Mysore, on 30th March, 2024. Published here with permission from Star of Mysore.
Even though it is an old article, it is relevant and will remain relevant for all time to come.
The mass of everything humans have ever built now outweighs every living thing on Earth.
This was forwarded to me recently and I thought I’d share it for a wider well-meaning readership.
We definitely need to plant more trees, albeit of the right native species.
Large scale attempts to artificially alter natural landscapes and weather systems should be approached with extreme caution. Deserts have evolved as deserts, grasslands as grasslands, and rivers have naturally carved their own courses over thousands of years. Every ecosystem has a role in maintaining Earth’s ecological balance.
Development is necessary, but it must be sustainable. If a tree is cut down for road construction or any infrastructure project, at least three to ten native trees should be planted within a 3km radius of the site. This helps preserve the local ecosystem, supports biodiversity, and reduces the environmental impact of development.
Instead of trying to redesign nature, we should learn to work with it. Protecting natural ecosystems is the key to maintaining long term climate stability and ecological balance.
Absolutely concur – China’s model is inappropriate.
Regreening or more importantly rewilding is best done after understanding the natural tree selection for the landscape concerned. Having said that, post 1956 the environmental degradation in Kodagu and loss of tree cover across the landscape has been severe. The worst consequences of corporate restructuring was the takeover of Consolidated Coffee (the large scale timber extraction was a defining change in plantation tree cover practices) and more recently the sale and subsequent resale (some properties closer to townships being earmarked for real estate development by unscrupulous greed by buyers without concern for the environment ). This has to STOP and be reversed if possible.
The recent developments at the Igguthappa Malma caused widespread dissent from the Kodava community at large. This should extend to the creation of large resorts without proper environmental clearance and sale of Jamma land outside of the community, especially for non-agricultural use.