Tree mafia at work

BANGALORE: There's nothing transparent about BBMP's tree auction. The auction at Sankey Road on Thursday is just the latest example which indicates a nexus between officials and tree contractors.All 19 trees earmarked for the Sankey Road wideningproject were auctioned for Rs 1.2 lakh. That's 40% of the initial governmentbid. Each tree was priced just above Rs 6,000."Generally there is noconnection between the government bid and the final price as it depends heavilyon bidding. In this case, there were only seven rate-fixing trees among the 19.It's hard to get higher bids as extraction cost is very high,'' explained BBMPdeputy conservator of forests (South) M Puttaswamy. Shockingly, theauction was completed after the tree officer convinced protesters on Wednesdayit was cancelled and would be held on July 1. The trees auctioned includes arain tree and a quick market survey reveals its timber yield value to be aboveRs 5 lakh."It's all part of a tree mafia -- there's a direct nexus between tree officers and contractors,'' retired Justice M F Saldanha. "The auction for the mahogany tree on St Mark's Road ten years ago was an eye-opener. It was auctioned for Rs 3,000 but the forest department estimated its value at Rs 23 lakh! Last year, a huge tree at the Cubbon Park entrance was under treatment for a protruding branch. The contractor told me he paid Rs 6,000 for the tree but also paid Rs 50,000 in cash illegally to the tree officer who gave him permission. The timber yield was worth Rs 5-6 lakh,'' he said.The exact number of trees cut are never clear as physicalsurveys include only trees more than ten years old. "We have absolutely noanswers even under the Right to Information Act,'' says entrepreneur and socialactivist G V Dasarathi, based on his tracking road widening at Palace Road andSeshadri Road."My physical counting of trees along both roads revealed 360 trees. BBMP's drawings indicated 285 trees but its reply to my RTI query in March 2009 said only 224 trees were axed. But all the trees I'd counted were axed,'' he asked. The reply also said all these trees wereauctioned and sold for Rs 11.72 lakh. "There is a serious under-reporting oftree counts and price in such projects that BBMP must address," he told TOI. Hissurvey of market price trends from timber merchants across city for these treesshowed that even an ordinary rain tree was worth a whopping Rs 75,000. This wasthe cheapest. Harder wood varieties like Mahogany were priced at Rs 3 lakh pertree.Species -- NumberAtti (Ficus glomerata)-- 2Gori (Ficus elastica) --- 1Jamoon (Syzygium cumini)-- 4Halasu (Jackfruit) -- 2Honge (Millettia pinnata) --4Tamarind -- 2Mango -- 1Rain Tree --1Bamboo -- 1 Paper tree -- 1