Bengaluru: After Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) mega plantation drive on June 27, saplings have begun withering at several locations, raising critical questions over post-plantation maintenance.A TOI visit to plantation sites at Byalakere, Medi Agrahara and Guni Agrahara in Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout found several saplings either withered or in poor condition. At Medi Agrahara, workers were seen watering plants using tankers. However, hundreds of saplings were also found lying unplanted along a stormwater drain near one of the plantation sites.Workers at the Byalakere site said NGOs involved in the drive were finding it difficult to get water tankers to maintain the saplings.Sanjay Belawal of Belawal Foundation, one of the NGO partners for the drive at Shivaram Karanth Layout, attributed the problem to delayed monsoon. “The plantation was planned keeping the monsoon in mind. No matter how much we water the plants, we cannot compete with nature. Had the monsoon been normal, we would not have faced these issues,” he said.Belawal Foundation supervised the planting of 18,000 saplings across nearly three acres in the layout. Belawal said saplings generally have a survival rate of 70-80% and the foundation has been entrusted with maintaining them for three years. Apart from providing the land and saplings, BDA has arranged a borewell for watering, he added.Another NGO, SayTrees, said it planted more than 3.3 lakh native saplings at Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout and Banashankari 6th Stage. The NGO said all sites have fixed irrigation pipelines, with larger sites supported by dedicated borewells and smaller ones watered through tankers. It has deployed over 10 gardeners to maintain the plantations for the next three years.BDA deputy conservator of forests Charan GS cited inadequate rainfall as the primary reason for the withering. He acknowledged that there was some lapses and said officials were taking corrective measures. “We are launching a dedicated portal to monitor all maintenance-related activities. It will be integrated with the web portal that was used for registration,” he said.Charan added that 60-80% of the saplings with withered leaves could still recover with proper care. “We will assess their condition after a month. Those that cannot be revived will be replaced,” he said.
