Shun axing of trees for projects, translocate them, Centre urged

Officials from the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) and the Forest department, on Monday, urged the Central government to make a policy decision to translocate as many trees as possible, instead of cutting them for infrastructure projects.

Citing the example of Jayamahal Road, Surendra Kumar, IWST director, said BBMP had sought their opinion on translocating 135 trees.

"We had said there is a problem with 45 trees as the roads are narrow, there are underground and overhead cables and pipelines. The BBMP officials were supposed to get back to us with an alternative solution, but nothing has happened after that," he said.

Unless there is a policy decision to translocate trees, authorities may not take it seriously, he said.

IWST has partnered with Volvo Trucks India to translocate trees. "We have researchers, scientific backing and expertise. IWST will develop the protocol on how the trees can be translocated. We are ready to help people with translocation, but they will have to come to us," Kumar said.

Kamal Bali, president and managing director of Volvo Group India, said to drive home the message of sustainability, two of their factories in Bengaluru will stop the use of fossil fuel and will use only renewable energy for production. This is being done for the first time and is part of the aim of the company to reduce carbon emissions.