Tree saved from girdling death

The city’s tree lovers saved yet another dying tree in Basaveshwaranagar on Wednesday.

Vijay Nishanth, founder of Project Vruksha, said, “The trunk of a 40-year-old Couroupita guianensis tree (popularly known as Cannon ball tree) standing over 25 metres tall in a residential locality in Basaveshwaranagar had been peeled off by some miscreants. This method is called as girdling.

People resort to this to stop moisture and nutrients flow from the roots to the top so that the tree dies eventually. It looked like the trunk had been peeled around four days back as the tree had fungal infection. We cleaned the infection, applied bee wax and other needed nutrition supplements, wrapped it with moisture cloth and sealed it. The tree will now be regularly monitored for three months. We also need to assess how the tree responds to the treatment.”

He was assisted by a Surekha, a resident of Basaveshwaranagar and a tree lover. Conservationists are surprised by the various methods people have been using get a tree axed by ensuring that it is declared dead. “From January till date, the city has lost 40 trees because of poisoning, which is an illegal way of killing them. Trees have been poisoned by pouring acid in their roots, girdling and even lacing the trunk with poisonous chemicals at night,” Nishanth said.

He said people should be aware of such incidents and report them to the concerned persons immediately. They should also watch out for the foul smell emitting around the tree and immediately inform the police, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and tree conservationists, he added.

People use such tactics to get a rid of tree when they do not get permission to fell it from the authorities. They poison them to ensure that the tree is dead after which felling the tree is the inly option left. There is a huge timber mafia operating in the city, where people poison tree and make money from the felled ones, said a conservationist.