bbmp forest cell

16 traders lose licences for using disposable plastic At a council meeting held in July, BBMP had declared an ultimatum to traders who do not stop using disposable plastic material (cups, plates and spoons). Mayor Sampath Raj had chalked out a week's deadline for the shopkeepers to permanently shift to using eco-friendly materials instead, failing which the licences of establishments would be cancelled. True to their word, the corporation's health department cancelled 16 trading licences of shops in Avenue Road, Bommanahalli and Neelasandra. One and a half tonnes of plastic was recovered through the raids conducted over two days, along with…

BBMP is left with only two officials now, to deal with the rampant tree cutting that takes place in the city. Pic: Shree D N It isn’t for the first time that Bengalureans have witnessed the BBMP and its Forest Cell getting into a nasty fight. The cold war which had once come to the limelight with the repatriation of BBMP’s Chief Conservator of Forest, Brijesh Kumar (IFS) to his parent department in October 2012, had temporarily calmed down with his return to the post. Two years on, the BBMP has relieved him again from the duty by issuing an…

The real reason behind BBMP not being able to maintain trees planted in Namma Bengaluru is this. As the Amicus Curiae in the Tree Felling case told the High Court of Karnataka (HC) on June 23rd, 2014, that less than 50% of the budget allocated for Forest Wing for various activities is released by Bruhat Bengauru Mahanagara Palike. This was just one of the many issues pointed out to the court on BBMP Forest Wing’s ineffectiveness. In a hearing held on the suo motu PIL (WP No. 7288/2011) filed by former Justice D V Justice Shylendra Kumar against mass tree felling…

It was August 25th, 2013. The last council meeting under the mayorship of Venkateshmurthy was underway. The media representatives coming out from the council meeting were distributed a press kit. The press release with no sign of any authorities highlighted the continued payment by BBMP to works tendered by its Forest Cell, which can never be scrutinised and ascertained if they were really done in the way they should be. The documents indicated that BBMP Forest Cell continues to make payments against 2923 job codes assigned four years ago. In addition to this, Forest Cell Chief Conservator Brijesh Kumar is…

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) now aims to go hi-tech to gain a clean green image. Going with the trends of the IT capital and borrowing its technological feather, the corporation within another three months aims to introduce an online tree felling grievances mechanism. Every year, around 3,000 permissions for axing trees are issued by the Tree Officer (Assistant Conservator of Forests), under the Tree Authority of the BBMP. In some areas, there are examples of trees being felled even during late night hours. But there is no formal record (online record with verification) explaining why the tree was…

Sushil Kumar, a resident of Sadashivanagar, was in rage and almost up in arms when he saw a majestic Gulmohar tree being axed to make way for road widening in his neighbourhood. When he tried to stop the workers from converting the trunk to logs, he was told that orders were given from the higher ups in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). When he contacted BBMP Forest cell top brass, pat came the reply, “I am not the authority concerned. But I will look into the matter, please give me the details.” He is not the only one. Sunita…