Covid cases down, speed up tree census: Karnataka HC tells BBMP

The high court has directed the BBMP and the Bengaluru Urban district administration to speed up the tree census.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka directed the authorities to make an earnest effort to complete the census as Covid cases are declining.

The government told the court that more than 71,000 trees in Bengaluru Urban and 18,000 trees in BBMP limits have been accounted for during the process.

The court is hearing a PIL petition filed by Bangalore Environment Trust and an environmentalist named Dattatraya T Devare. The petition has sought to constitute a committee/task force to oversee that the tree officers and the tree authority carry out their duties in accordance with the law.

The court said that while the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, came into force long ago, no tree census was conducted in four decades.

As per the order of the court on April 22, 2019, the authorities will have to take up a tree census in both Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts.