Mangaluru: Not Smart by Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) or Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC)! Planting saplings/plants and ]then killing them by not Watering & Nurturing. Whoever was responsible (MSCL or MCC) in planting these saplings on the median of the road stretch from Hampankatta Junction till Clock tower, the drying of plants was due to their Negligence and Carelessness!

If you had driven or rode or walked between the road stretch from Hampankatta Junction till Clock Tower a couple of months ago you could have seen green plants all along the median, unfortunately now, you will be surprised to see about 80 % of the pants have dried up, due to lack of water and care, and even commuters destroying them while crossing the median/road. Nothing but a total Green-washing! Tree or sapling planting generates goodwill but may sometimes harm the planet.

Team Mangalorean had already highlighted this issue in the report (Ref: Not Smart by MSCL or MCC! Planting Saplings and Then Killing Them by Not Watering & Nurturing) on 3 December, urging the concerned authorities to act quickly and save the remaining plants, at least. Then the Smart Officials finally woke up and came up with a preventive measure in saving the plants by fencing the surroundings, so that the plants won’t get crushed by people crossing the median/road. But a question was that why didn’t do this fencing at the beginning itself when the plants were planted.

Not Smart by MSCL! Fencing the Plants on Road Median LATE after Many Plants Already DEAD

THE FENCING WAS DONE A FEW DAYS AGO…

Surprisingly now we are seeing all the fences erected have been removed, and since the concerned authorities in MSCL have come up with a different plan. Why didn’t they think of the new plan when they were going ahead with fencing the plants with green mesh. Whose money are they spending and wasting with double work, which absolutely makes no sense? One should note that whatever projects MSCL or MCC undertake, they have to be redone again due to unscientific and unplanned projects- and this fencing and redoing it again is one example, among many others.

When Team Mangalorean contacted one of the Technical Engineers at MSCL, he said that the earlier fencing was done on a trial basis, and later it was decided to redo the fencing by having business advertisements on them. Oh, looks like a damn good idea, however, why was such a plan never thought of in the beginning when the fencing was done a few days ago. Seems like a Smart-less plan by the so-called Smart People in Mangaluru Smart City Limited?

We should know that planting Trees or saplings does a lot more for us than you probably think. While some may argue that tree or sapling planting is a win-win for the environment whoever does it, offsetting is just another way of corporate greenwashing. “Plants can’t survive without water.” I bet you won’t find anyone who will disagree with that statement. But our City officials act as if it wasn’t true. They let their plants go dry for months during the dry summer season without giving them any water at all. Then they wonder why the plants are unhealthy, stressed, infested with pests or disease, or even dead. Plants need water to survive and thrive. Hope the concerned authorities behind the beautification of Hampankatta Junction to Clock tower will agree and admit their guilt now.

FENCING HAS DISAPPEARED AS OF 5 JANUARY 2022….??

But those who are responsible for taking care of these plants should be ready for the dry season that is certain to come.  It’s no surprise that plants are on the green economy agenda, but this does not necessarily mean that planting them is “green” or helpful for social harmony. Allowing them to regrow naturally is not always effective either, as they are unlikely to survive on their own. Community involvement is therefore crucial. And on the part of humans, they should have also realized by walking on the plants while crossing the median will kill them but they didn’t?

Therefore, if MSCL or MCC are serious about planting trees or saplings then they need to care about the plants and also about the communities that live with them and not just their own reputations.