<p>Plantation drives in Bengaluru have become more expensive, with costs for planting and maintaining the saplings skyrocketing. The civic authorities spend about Rs 1,600 on each roadside sapling, but many do not survive.</p>.<p>The money spent by the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) now, along with the five city corporations, has gone up from Rs 1,300 per plant in 2023-24 to Rs 1,600 by 2025-26.</p>.<p>In the last three years, the civic authorities have spent about Rs 60 crore on plantation drives. However, experts say the results are not visible on the ground.</p>.<p>While the per-sapling cost includes three-year maintenance, environmental activists tracking the afforestation drive say many do not survive because their maintenance is inadequate.</p>.<p>In a recent letter to the Urban Development Department, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar noted that both medians and plants have not been maintained adequately.</p>.<p>He directed the department to prepare an action plan to keep road medians free of garbage and ensure the plants are well looked after.</p>.<p>Dattatreya Devare of the Bangalore Environment Trust says the GBA may have grand plans to plant a large number of saplings, but it does not take care of them well.</p>.Greater Bengaluru Authority enlists students to map, remove hazardous trees.<p>"From my experience on the ground, I have often seen saplings die and they are not always replaced," he stated.</p>.<p>Denying the charge, a senior GBA official said that they do ensure the survival of the saplings. "We do check the survival rate and release payments (to the contractor) only in phases. We also check if dead saplings are replaced. The saplings are geo-tagged and audited, too," the official added.</p>.<p>But the official conceded that plants are sometimes not checked after the three or five-year maintenance period ends.</p>.<p>"If they had planted and ensured all the saplings survived, Bengaluru would be much greener than it is today. We would be happy even if they spend Rs 10,000 on a sapling if they ensure it survives and improves the green cover. All of this seems to be an eyewash,” said environmentalist Vijay Nishanth.</p>.<p>GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said that they monitor the saplings and believe the corporations are doing a good job.</p>.<p>"Many of these saplings are planted on busy roads and are under stress. However, we do monitor and check them regularly,” he told DH.</p>.<p>Over the years, the number of saplings planted has also come down significantly — from 1.39 lakh in 2023-24 to 1.31 lakh in 2024-25 to just 84,100 in 2025-26.</p>.<p>Sources in the GBA said that since the BBMP was split into five corporations, plantation drives took a backseat due to administrative reforms.</p>.<p>In 2026-27, the five corporations plan to plant about two lakh saplings, with a focus on bamboo plantation, Rao added.</p>
<p>Plantation drives in Bengaluru have become more expensive, with costs for planting and maintaining the saplings skyrocketing. The civic authorities spend about Rs 1,600 on each roadside sapling, but many do not survive.</p>.<p>The money spent by the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) now, along with the five city corporations, has gone up from Rs 1,300 per plant in 2023-24 to Rs 1,600 by 2025-26.</p>.<p>In the last three years, the civic authorities have spent about Rs 60 crore on plantation drives. However, experts say the results are not visible on the ground.</p>.<p>While the per-sapling cost includes three-year maintenance, environmental activists tracking the afforestation drive say many do not survive because their maintenance is inadequate.</p>.<p>In a recent letter to the Urban Development Department, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar noted that both medians and plants have not been maintained adequately.</p>.<p>He directed the department to prepare an action plan to keep road medians free of garbage and ensure the plants are well looked after.</p>.<p>Dattatreya Devare of the Bangalore Environment Trust says the GBA may have grand plans to plant a large number of saplings, but it does not take care of them well.</p>.Greater Bengaluru Authority enlists students to map, remove hazardous trees.<p>"From my experience on the ground, I have often seen saplings die and they are not always replaced," he stated.</p>.<p>Denying the charge, a senior GBA official said that they do ensure the survival of the saplings. "We do check the survival rate and release payments (to the contractor) only in phases. We also check if dead saplings are replaced. The saplings are geo-tagged and audited, too," the official added.</p>.<p>But the official conceded that plants are sometimes not checked after the three or five-year maintenance period ends.</p>.<p>"If they had planted and ensured all the saplings survived, Bengaluru would be much greener than it is today. We would be happy even if they spend Rs 10,000 on a sapling if they ensure it survives and improves the green cover. All of this seems to be an eyewash,” said environmentalist Vijay Nishanth.</p>.<p>GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said that they monitor the saplings and believe the corporations are doing a good job.</p>.<p>"Many of these saplings are planted on busy roads and are under stress. However, we do monitor and check them regularly,” he told DH.</p>.<p>Over the years, the number of saplings planted has also come down significantly — from 1.39 lakh in 2023-24 to 1.31 lakh in 2024-25 to just 84,100 in 2025-26.</p>.<p>Sources in the GBA said that since the BBMP was split into five corporations, plantation drives took a backseat due to administrative reforms.</p>.<p>In 2026-27, the five corporations plan to plant about two lakh saplings, with a focus on bamboo plantation, Rao added.</p>