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Preserving the Green Canopy of Bangalore
Story of the Struggle
Speakers
The city of Bangalore had 68% of its area under green cover in the 1970s. Today, it is only around 4%. Much of this loss is due to the enormous, unplanned growth of the city. Needless to say, we need to strike a balance between caring for the environment and development. This can be achieved through the active engagement of citizens, experts and the media with the concerned authorities. Appropriate legal interventions can also help.
This presentation will touch upon aspects such as the importance of trees in an urban setting in the context of climate change, the orientation of important stakeholders, legal framework for preservation of trees and its implementation, outcomes of the PIL filed by BET (Bangalore Environment Trust) in Karnataka High Court, the role of citizen participation, tree transplantation and other methods/techniques to enhance greenery in the city. The aim of this session is to provide information and trigger a conversation for ideas to make Bangalore greener.
Speakers
D.T. Devare
D.T. Devare is a HR professional with over 40 years’ experience in the corporate world. He has been a Trustee of Bangalore Environment Trust since 2007.
He is passionate about environment conservation in general and protecting trees and promoting Green Cover in particular. He was involved in the first experiment in Tree Transplantation from MG Road boulevard to Parade Ground in 2007. Later, he was involved in limiting the amendments to Karnataka Tree Act. He believes that we can achieve a better balance between development and environment conservation if the officialdom is sensitised.
When he found that a very large number of trees were being felled in violation of the Tree Act, he, along with BET filed a PIL in Karnataka High Court in 2018. Devare has played a significant role in building a formidable legal case for tree preservation in Bangalore. As an activist, Devare likes to get involved and contributes to the initiatives of various Civil Society Organizations on issues of environment. Devare and BET have also filed a PIL on Sustainable and Affordable Urban Mobility seeking greater attention to public transport, walking, cycling etc in Bangalore to improve liveability. Devare extensively uses RTI and writes mainly for Citizen Matters.
Vijay Thiruvady
Vijay Thiruvady has always been interested in various aspects of nature and more specifically horticulture. He conducts Green Heritage Walks in Lalbagh, Imperial Colonial Walks in Cubbon Park and Military Heritage Walks at the MEG&C, and participates in the various activities of Bangalore Environment Trust as a Trustee. These have included the publishing of a book on Heritage Trees in the vicinity of Bangalore and a book on Devarakadus and Gundutopus in and around Bangalore.
Thiruvady spent his early years in Delhi. His academic interests were pursued at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and School of Architecture, Ahmedabad. When in Delhi, he had exposure to the world of nature and environment through association with a number of distinguished people in the field and institutions.
Thiruvady has given talks on Bangalore, its environment and history at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore Club, National Gallery of Modern Art, and Azim Premji University.
