In an attempt to conserve trees in Bengaluru, former Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture, S Narayanaswamy has advocated for tree surgery to be performed on every tree in the city.
Tree surgery, a term used to describe the maintenance of trees by removal of dead, dried and diseased branches to preserve a balanced canopy, started in India in 2000, when Narayanaswamy introduced the idea in a national seminar. “I went to Europe and I saw that the trees there are in very good stature. This got me thinking about arboriculture and the idea of having an arborist for the city. Arborists are sort of like your doctor for the trees. They will know when to remove branches and how to trim the tree,” said Narayanaswamy, who is now retired from the Horticulture Department of the Karnataka government.
Tree surgeries extend the lives of trees, improve the aesthetics and allow sunlight to fall on more parts of the tree.
A tree surgery squad was formed based on recommendations sent to the government and the BBMP that’s responsible for maintaining trees in the city. The experiment started in Lalbagh over ten years ago and has now spread to other parts of the city including Vidhan Soudha, Cubbon Park, and the High Court area. “We (Horticulture dept of state govt.) have carried out surgeries of over 500 trees around Vidhana Soudha, KGID office and High Court. The experiment has also worked wonders with Lal Bagh, where a few years ago a lot of trees collapsed. Now, no tree falls in Lal Bagh because we have identified the defective branches and maintained the trees there,” he added.
Narayanaswamy and his organisation Arboriculture Association have been approached by several organisations including Bangalore Club, Chitrakala Parishat and Mahila Seva Samaja for tree surgery. “We have also sent repeated reminders to the BBMP and we believe that every tree in the city will benefit from tree surgery,” he added.
*Image courtesy: Yair Aronshtam