Changing face of Bangalore

In Chord Road from Attiguppe to vijayanagar there were lot of trees lined on either side of the road.These trees have been axed to widen the roads and also for the metro rail project.There were trees in the road side parks on either side of the chord road leading to the vijayanagar bus stand.Some of these trees in the road side parks have also been felled.A Big tree near the Vijayanagar bus stand has also been axed recently.A ride in this road was pleasant until recently with good tree shades on either side.Trees have been axed in other parts of Bangalore also for the same reasons.Big trees have been cut in the West of chord road,Residency Road,Race course road,MG road and elsewhere.At this rate,soon Bangalore will lose its sobriquet as the 'Garden city'.Many would say this is all inevitable when the growing needs of the city has to be addressed.But at what cost? Is it not ironical that on one side the government at the centre is very serious about climate change,its effects ,talks about steps to combat greenhouse gas emmissions and on the other side all over the country on the plea of developmental projects trees are cut indiscriminatley and the green cover of the country is continously eroded.All our city's are continously becoming warmer year after year .Authorities forget that tress are Capital Assets for a city.Trees are imperative, on the other hand at roads where the estimated pollutant uptake is high,especially near signals where a host of vehicles wait at the same time and emit greenhouse gases to a greater extent.No wonder at signals,one feels suffocating,especially if you are travelling in a two wheeler.It is said a mature tree absorbs nearly 48 lbs /year of CO2 and releases oxygen sufficient for two human beings in to the atmosphere.I understand permission is granted to fell trees by the government authorities after ensuring planting of two tree saplings for every single tree that is axed.I think this could be the most absurd theory.The experts say it takes years for a tree to start absorbibg CO2 at significant levels.Only a mature tree absorbs more CO2.So the theory of planting two trees for every single tree felled does not in anyway solve the issue.It is high time envoronmentalists and green peace activists of Bangalore come together and chart out plans to save atleast the remaining trees in Bangalore,before it is too late.