Elderly In Bengaluru Are On A Green Mission And We Can’t Thank Them Enough

In just over a decade, the urbanisation in Bengaluru has grown exponentially. To accommodate more housing complexes and office spaces, constructors have taken over the land, spaces that once used to have trees or lakes. As a result, the green wrap in Bengaluru has shrunk rapidly. In response to this, many citizen groups have made small and big efforts to add some greenery back into the concrete cityscape. Earlier this week entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw shared a video that documented one such citizen group that was involved in planting trees on the roadside. This group is mostly senior citizens. While sharing the clip, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw wrote, “What wonderful citizens we have in Namma Bengaluru! I really salute them for their green Bengaluru initiative.”

Commenting on this post, an X user wrote, “Respect the elderly people who are thinking of the future of kids and they know they might not sit under the shade of that tree they are planting but it will surely help someone for sure. The love for Bengaluru is left in very few, in most of the activities we have seen it’s led by seniors. We usually see some involvement by a few youngsters but they are limited to certain activities. Tree plantation is a drive which is going to benefit the future generation and wish our bbmp forest team, which plants thousands of tree saplings across Bengaluru, to take care of the trees they plant and water them for a few months and make sure they grow.”

Another asserted, “Every tree we plant is a heartfelt embrace to Mother Earth, a legacy of breath for future generations. Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening sky. Let’s listen back, one tree at a time. Their roots hold our world together.”

An X user contrasted the efforts of the men shown in the above-mentioned video with those who contribute to relentless construction. He mentioned, “On the other hand there are citizens chopping trees to park their vehicles on the road. When will the government introduce a law to make parking space mandatory for ownership of vehicles. At least start auditing buildings for adequate parking & clearing basements.”

Someone suggested that the citizens who work for civic causes should be acknowledged and awarded by the state. He commented, “Wish this group will be honoured by the government on November 1. Many citizens do many such welfare programs silently and we need to motivate them so that “unwritten agreement of public welfare “spreads across the state.”