Bangalore: how it became Green

chillibreeze writer — Poornima Dasharathi

Walking through one of the small narrow roads and trying in vain to avoid the dust rising from the construction that is never ending in Bangalore, I could not help but admire the splash of purple jacaranda trying to provide some relief to this ‘Work in Progress’ city. Apart from its temperate climate, it’s the flowering trees that bring a smile to many in our ‘still have gardens in some parts’ city.

Having enjoyed the green getaways that Bangalore’s horticultural show pieces, Lalbagh and Cubbon Park provide, if someone told me that Bangalore was earlier just a ‘dusty plain barren land’, I would have brushed aside the statement as a silly remark made by an envious visitor. However, leafing through the pages in history, one will have to acknowledge it for a fact. Believe it or not, Bangalore, until a couple of hundreds of years earlier, was not green but brown!

It was during the time of Haider Ali in 1760 that the city’s first garden was formed. A small 40 acre garden was created to the west of the erstwhile fort where plants from as far as Lahore, Persia and Kabul were brought. Developed in Islamic style, the garden was maintained for ‘royal pleasure’; a pleasant spot when the Sultan was not fighting the Marathas or the English.

His son Tipu Sultan inherited his love for greenery. In his reign, ambassadors brought exotic plants from as far as Cape Town and France. Roses especially bloomed well in the garden. Hence it was called ‘Rose and Cypress Garden’ by the English; later it was renamed as Lalbagh. Yet, the city had just this one small garden. The real greening of Bangalore started only in the 1800s after the English took over the city.

Bangalore was fortunate that its rulers had a love for greenery; so it was as much good fortune as it was for the weather that the trees thrived in the city. The English planted shade providing trees on roadsides. Villagers, who brought their produce to sell in the city, rested their tired legs and their bullocks, under the many shady ficus or rain trees that lined every road that led into the city.

Since land was available in plenty here, the colonial period saw the development of a vast cantonment area which had spacious bungalows with huge gardens and parks. Winston Churchill, who served for a brief period as a soldier in the cantonment, describes the city which had ‘splendid roads, endless double avenues of shady trees and abundant supply of pure water’.

In 1864, Sir Richard Sankey, designed and landscaped a huge park in the Cantonment area. Named after Lord Cubbon, the British Commissioner, the park had motorable thoroughfares, huge grassy areas and long avenues with beautiful views.

Lalbagh too bloomed under leading horticulturists of that era. Eminent persons like Cameron, Krumbeigal and Javaraya; all trained at Botanical Gardens in Kew, expanded and landscaped the garden. From 40 acres of ‘rose and cypress’ it blossomed under their care.

Today Lalbagh has the one of most diversified collection of trees and plants in the world. Araucarias from South America, rain trees from the Caribbean, cypresses from Mexico all stand proudly in this beautiful garden. The lovely glasshouse, a replica of London’s crystal palace, was built by Cameron.

The garden attracts hordes of morning walkers from places near and far. A half an hour walk to burn calories, followed by a sinful plate of Ghee Masala Dosa in nearby MTR to promptly regain those calories is a routine followed by many.

As new residential extensions and industries developed, Bangalore’s greening continued in the same pace. As recently as 1950s, Bangalore was a shining example for environmentalists around the world.

The famous horticulturist, Krumbiegal, is credited for planting serial flowering trees that line the city’s streets. In any season of the year, Bangalore’s streets are coloured with flowering trees in full bloom. Thanks to him and his successors, we witness a splash of colour on these trees even in the hot dusty bylanes of our city right through the year.

As Bangalore grew from a green small town city in South India to an important metropolis that attracted global visitors, much of the greens were lost in keeping pace with the radical growth of urban population and industries. Still, the city has also seen impetus to green cover every now and then either by politicians like Ramakrishna Hegde or the administrative bodies such as BDA or concerned citizens’ group such as the Hasiru Usiru.

The Hasiru Usiru has launched an ongoing campaign, Namma Raste, which is against the large scale tree felling for the various road widening projects in Bangalore. It advocates public consultations, workshops, surveys and has submitted alternative traffic management plans to BBMP.

The greening of Bangalore has been a long term and enduring process, started by the Haider and Tipu, successfully carried over by the English & Indian kings, the local authorities, and more importantly, active public participation.

If each of the city’s seven million citizens grows a few plants and shrubs in their house or apartment, imagine the huge increase in the green backdrop of the city!

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...

—About our writer:

Poornima writes for chillibreeze.

Bangalore: how it became Green

>> Read more articles written by Chillibreeze writers: