Bangalore need green spaces

In the age of carbon credits, the decision makers of Bangalore are talking of redrawing the green cover of the city. The plan is still in loud thinking stage while other countries are bargaining hard to reduce their emission levels.

What we want to see is real work on the ground in the city that loves its wheels.

In 2009, Union Minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh had set a target of increasing India’s green cover by 10%  from 23% in the next few years.

The minister had said that there was a need for greater sensitivity towards ecological issues as economic development was threatening biodiversity in the country.

And Jairam Ramesh has been doing his bit by stopping biggies from destroying the green cover.

What are our local leaders doing? Last week, the BBMP committee for horticulture decided to spread green consciousness by planting honge and neem trees in corporators’ and MLA’s houses in the city.

The committee’s chairman K Ranganna committed himself to the decision of planting the two varieties of trees in all 198 corporators and 28 MLA’s houses.

“We have to practise before we preach. We can convey the message to the public best by setting an example before them and planting the trees in our own houses,” Ranganna had said.

It was also decided to grow only fruit and flower trees and plants, which will attract birds and insects. Ranganna said the committee had decided to ‘keep away’ from lawns as they are expensive.

“We are also holding talks with the IT and BT companies in the city outskirts to take up maintenance and development of BBMP parks,” he said.

No, this is not enough. Why? Cities occupy 2% of land mass worldwide but consume nearly 75% of the resources as more than half of the world’s humankind live in cities. A city imports resources: Bangalore gets water from about 100 km away and onions from north Karnataka or Pakistan.

What we require is a holistic and dedicated plan process that needs to be implemented from tomorrow.  Change of tree cover or species is one of the factors but that should not be restricted to corporators or MLAs or government buildings.

We should encourage each household to grow trees. The green cover is directly related to the extreme climatic conditions Bangalore has been witnessing.

The authorities should promote vegetation near buildings like on balconies, in window boxes and on roofs. Residential gardens are a must on big plots. Decorative or vegetable gardens are better than lawns.

Like rainwater harvesting or recycling, which aim to make us self-supportive when it comes to our water needs, these steps could supply us with enough fruits and vegetable, maybe even create a surplus.

The improvement of  our quality of life by the creation of green spaces runs much deeper than just aesthetics.