Thursday, May30, 2019 DECCAN HERALD 3

Take alook at some gifting Metrolife cityscape options for this Eid P4 100trees crash in just aweek

Bengaluru hasamonsoon problem. Treesand branches are falling in unprecedented numbers, andthe dangers to life and limb are huge

tleast 500-oddtrees have crashedinBen- CBD affected, Agaluru over thepast saystop cop four months,100 in thelast week alone. Gustywinds On Monday,whenit accompaniedbythunder- rained heavily, police storms andheavy rain are clearedfallentree Atwo-wheelerwas damagedafter atreefellonitnear Vyalikaval Police Station limits An uprootedtreecamecrashing down on aNano parked in Sadashivanagarlast uprootingtrees. branches at 300places, on May 27. DH PHOTOSBYJANARDHAN BK weekend. The heavydownpour damagedbothpublicand privatepropertyinseveral Accordingtoenviron- accordingtoAdditional parts across the city. mentalists,mostaffected Commissioner of Police treesare exotic–soft-wood- (Traffic)PHarisheka- Bigtime damageto ed treesnicetolookbut un- ran. “Thiswas a RJ Shruti’snarrow escape able to standuptoastorm. joint operation by electric poles Concretisation of foot- theBBMPand the Hundreds of electric poles Shruti,aka PatPat Pataki branch fell on thecar paths is anotherreason: Bengalurutraffic were damagedastrees and Shruti,and herfamily in frontofus. We were thetrees getnowater to police.Trees were branches crashedonthem. had anarrow escape frightened andour worst nourishtheir roots. uprooted in 40 places Bescom says 982falls have when abig tree branch fearscametruewhen Thefallingtrees and andfallentreebranches caused damage to 564 fell on theircar last abranchfelltothe left branches have damaged obstructed thesmooth poles. “Wehave replaced weekend. Shruti,whose of ourcar,damagingit. cars,bikes andprivate prop- movementoftraffic in 545ofthem,”asenior show is airedonBig FM We moved aheadand erty,but thankfullynolives otherplaces,”hetold official says.Additional 92.7,narratesher ordeal just when we thought have been lost. Metrolife. Bescom staff areonthe job to Metrolife: things had settleddown, Severalparts of thecity Atreeinside the of fixing polesand restoring An electric pole in Sadashivanagar brokeafter atree “Weweredriving from anotherhugebranch PatPat Pataki Shruti areregularly plunged into compound of theAll India electricity. branch fell on it. Sankey Road towards came crashing down on darkness becauseoffalling Radiowas uprooted. “We Hebbal.It’salongsignal therearwindow. The huge dent on theboot. It branches. areworking in close forestsofnativespecies andgusty windsliterally not kill thetrees by strangu- andwewerestuck in glassshattered into piec- wasraining heavilyand Dr TV Ramachandra, coordination with BBMP wouldhelpingroundwater cutthrough them.Where lating theroots,” he says. traffic when atree es andthe impact left a watercamegushinginto Centrefor Ecological officialsinthe depart- recharge, micro-climate thereisacontinuouslineof Suresh says concretisa- thecar.Mymotherand Sciences, Indian Instituteof mentsofroadwork,and moderation,and develop- trees, they areunaffected,” tion of footpaths hasled in-lawswereinthe back Science(IISc), additionally stormwater drainand ment of habitatfor diverse explains Vijay. to theweakening of trees. seat andthe glassshards citedglobal warmingfor the solidwaste management organisms,”hesuggests. Suresh Heblikar,actor “Weshouldhavearelook fell on them.Luckily, problem. “Wehavestarted to ensure ahassle-free VijayNishanth, Bengalu- andfounderofEco-Watch, at thetrees that have been they didn’t suffer major experiencing changes in the commutefor citizens ru-based ‘treedoctor’ and says treesthatfellwere planted,”hesays. injuries.Because of climate–witherratic rain, during themonsoons,” tree committeememberof in busy commercial It is importantfor the theirreflexaction, they high-intensity wind and he adds. ProjectVruksha Founda- areasaroundMGRoad, government to include dodged thefall. Water rainfall,fewer rainydays, tion,saysshoddyunder- Malleswaram, Gandhi planting of treeswhenit mixedand glasspieces andhigherintensity rainfall ground drainage work Bazaar,Ballari Road,Cox plansinfrastructure. The filled thebackseat.We in shorter duration,” he ed,leading to weakening hasliterally cutthrough Town andIndiranagar,and twomustgohand-in-hand, didn’t wait butdrove as says.Hebelievesmostexist- of branches andtrunk with tree rootsand rendered they had beenplanted more he recommends. fast as we couldtoget ingtrees have becomeweak pestattack,” he points out. them weak.“Therootis than 50 yearsago. “The existing treesare home.Had thebranch due to mismanagement. Theneed of thehouristo thestrongest pointofa “The roads back then not being caredfor andare fallen anywhere in the “Concretisingfootpaths and replacefallentrees with tree.The treesare falling were broadand automobiles left to decayand die. Prun- The rear window of Shruti’s carwas damaged after middle then chokingthe base deprives native species, he contends. becausetheyare weak. were few. Concrete did ingdoesn’t preventuproot- atreefell on it.She wasdriving on Sankey Road last we wouldhave been thetrees of nutrients. Also, “Raising awarenessamong Also,onlysingletrees have not restrict thetrees from ing,”Heblikar explains. weekend when the incident happened. severely injured.” root respiration gets affect- thepublic to develop mini fallen because therains absorbing rainwater. We did Nina CGeorge Who’s who of Indian cinema attend Ravichandran’sdaughter’s wedding

ngayana Raghu in Actors Ganesh and Ra groom. conversation with the Superstar Rajini kanth flew down to Be newlyweds. ngaluru to bless the

Tamil actor Pra bhu was also spotted a the receptio t R Gitanjali and N Ajay tied the knot on May 29. PHOTOS BY DEEPAK_VIJAY_PHOTOGRAPHY n.

Mega star Chiranjeevi greets other celebs at the event. remaloka’ star Ravichandran’s Upendra, Priyanka Upendra, Ramesh Pdaughter RGitanjali andbusiness- Aravind, Shivaram,Vijay Raghavendra manAjaytiedthe knot in agrand andGaneshgracedthe occasion. eventyesterday at WhitePetals, Palace We also spottedafewpoliticians Grounds. includingBSYeddyurappa and Areception partywas heldonTuesday Cheluvarayaswamy. at thesamevenue whichsaw thepres- Therewerealsoseparateentrances ence of thebigwigs of politics andthe forthe celebs andpublic.Ane-cartwas film fraternity. also deployed at theentranceofthe hall Metrolifereportersattendedthe to ferrythe VIPs to thestage. reception party, andwepresent youthe inside scoop. Father dedicates songtohis TheentirePalaceGrounds stretch daughter wasjam-packed on Tuesday nightand Ravichandranalsowrote andcom- theinviteesfound it hard to enterthe posedasongonthe father-daughter for a picture with Shivarajkumar posing venue. relationship as awedding gift to hisonly Actor uple. daughter. the co Tightsecurityfor Highlighting thesignificanceof Kids had a star-studded affair daughtersinafather’slife, thesong nicetime too Bignames from thefilmfraternity goes... “Beladameleneenu, naanu TheVIPs includingRajnikanth,Chiranjeevi, maguvaade” (I becameachild afteryou were Shruthi, Prabhu,Anant Nag, Sundar grew up). welcomed with Anant Nag pose s for the shutterbugs a Raj, Shanvi Srivatsava,Srinath, Malini Raghu and Rakshitha MN paper bombs, Ravichandr fter wishing the coup an looks on. le while making heaps of it near the Music by Hamsalekha entrance. Themusic at thegrand affair waspresented Thekids by veteranmusic director Hamsalekha and theretookthis troupe.Hit numbersfromHamsalekha-Ravi- opportunity chandran’smovies‘Premaloka’,‘Ranadheera’, to entertain ‘Ramachari’and ‘PreetsodTappa’were themselves. The paper rain at the entranceofthe performed. receptionhall kept thekids engaged. Also part of themusical eveningwas percussionist Sivamani,who enthralled the An arrangement of the‘aarati’ dolls at the entrance of audience with histoe-tappingbeats. the wedding hall.Thisisanimportant part of South Music composer Hamsalekha performed the Crazy Star’s hit numbers. Indian weddings.