Bengaluru hospital decides against felling to make space

Not wanting to fell the trees to clear the grounds for a new block, Baptist Hospital has translocated 13 trees inside its campus to safer places.

The trees stood at the divider at the entrance and were shifted to a greener area at the parking lot.

The hospital management joined hands with environmentalist Ilango Subramaniam to move nine Golden Bottle Brush and four Cyprus Coniferous trees, clearing the area to build a mother and child block.

Col Suresh Gorpade, division head of Project and Security at Baptist Hospital, said this is the first-ever initiative of its kind on the campus. "We decided not to lose the trees and had therefore, translocated them (inside the campus)," Col Gorpade said.

He said the exercise had cost them Rs 88,000, including vehicle cost, contractor fees and expenses, to ready the ground and translocate the trees.

During the time it took from the beginning of the process on Monday till its completion, no one was inconvenienced and the trees were also transferred safely, Col Gorpade said.

Since the translocation happened inside the campus, Col Gorpade said permission from the Palike was not necessary, though the hospital had kept the civic body officials informed.

He said the trees have been supported to ensure they acclimatise with the newer surroundings. The first few days were spent to prepare the grounds and make sure all other requirements were in place. The translocation itself was carried out on Friday. Right now, the contractor is helping maintain the trees.