A sandalwood tree census will be carried out in both government and private properties of BBMP areas, by the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) in collaboration with the BBMP from January 15.
The Social Forestry Wing, Vigilance Wing and the Territorial Division Staff of Forest Department will work together with BBMP forest officials on the project.
Teams in place
The eight zones of BBMP will be covered by eight teams headed by an Assistant Conservator of Forests, assisted by a Range Forest Officer and 10 field staff, according to Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBMP, Mr Shekar. It is estimated there are 35,000 sandal wood trees in BBMP area.
As per law, every sandalwood tree should be registered with the KFD as section 84 of Karnataka Forest Act states that sandalwood trees are the exclusive property of the government.
This enumeration will serve as a registry and identify the mature trees which will be harvested with a compensation based on the quality of the sandalwood ranging from approximately Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 per kg.
The KFD has also been receiving a lot of complaints from those who have sandalwood trees in their private property that it cannot be adequately protected, particularly with smugglers from Tamil Nadu. Chief Conservator of Forest, Bangalore Circle, U V Singh said that in the last two months, five sandalwood smuggling cases were reported in the city and five have been arrested in this regard.  Wood has also been smuggled out of institutions including CPRI, IISc, BHEL, BEL and a Defence forces property.
 For trees which cannot be harvested as yet, the Department officials also will advice the owners about how best to protect them. The census, which will spread over a period of 15 days, will also help in making a plan to strengthen regeneration of the trees.