Bengaluru Metro’s Looming Crisis: 890 Trees Pose Risk to Tracks, 100 ‘Too Close’ as Monsoon Looms
मुख्य बातें
- •BMRCL has identified 890 trees near Metro tracks, with 100 posing high risk of falling during storms.
- •The southwest monsoon is expected to begin around June 1, increasing urgency for corrective action.
- •trees have already been removed and 42 pruned in the past two weeks under a safety protocol.
- •Environmental and civic approvals are slowing down the process, as over 1.8 million trees are under protection in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru’s monsoon season, notorious for waterlogging and infrastructure strain, has brought a new challenge to the city’s Metro network: trees. Officials from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) have identified 890 trees growing in close proximity to Metro tracks across the city, with 100 of these deemed “too close for comfort” and posing a direct risk during heavy rainfall.
The revelation comes as part of an internal assessment conducted by BMRCL engineers and horticulture experts, who are now racing against time to prune, relocate, or remove these trees before the onset of the southwest monsoon, expected around June 1. The primary concern is that falling branches or uprooted trees during storms could damage overhead electric wires, disrupt signalling systems, or even derail trains—risks that are not hypothetical.
