Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Tank Bund breached

After several decades of standing strong the bund on M G Road (now called a boulevard/ promenade) is coming down to make way for the piers to support the overhead tracks of the upcoming Bangalore Metro.

While it is hoped that the Metro will help ease Bangalore's traffic congestion slightly, what will be lost is a monument of Bangalore's history.


The bund according to history was constructed to separate the adjacent lake from the then South Parade. This bund flourished over the years with added vegetation and trees that acted as a carbon sink as well as an area that helped rain water seep through the earth to recharge the ground water table. Once the Metro towers over this area and though the bund maybe reconstructed in an albeit smaller form, it will be hidden from above by a huge concrete structure radiating heat and the loss of trees will only aid in increasing the ambient temperature in surrounding areas. Also chances of rainwater seeping into the earth in that area will be much reduced. Need the reader be reminded that the water table level in Bangalore in some areas is reducing at the rate of a meter a month!


A view of an 87 year old Bougainvillea grown on a pergola on the bund


Unfortunately the cries of anguish from the public that have just awakened are too late, as they come to realise that one more green monument of Bangalore is biting the dust. The only reminder that a tank bund existed in the vicinity will be the name of a shop on the commercial side of M G Road- Lakeview.




Plans are afoot to cut down more trees along major roads- around 300 trees in all. Will protests come once more after they are gone?

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9 Comments:

At 6:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, something needs to be done about the infrastructure, but should it be at this cost?

 
At 4:58 AM, Blogger Sunil Pichamuthu said...

I agree..
It is very hard to put a financial number/ figure to what is lost. It is much easier to put a financial number/ figure to what construction costs are.

 
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