The Observer Volume 22 Edition 25

Website: theweeklyobserver.in

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Bengaluru’s greenery on decline: Climate change & pollution spoiling health of the city’s plants | P 4

As drugs ruin teenagers’ lives, slum-dwellers feel helpless

You find drug consumers, cops tell residents

By Yukta Mudgal

“My beautiful daughter has become a living skeleton, she does not even look like a woman now,” said Shakina Begum (name changed), a slum-dweller in Hombegowda Nagar.

Shakina Begum, in her sixties, has lived in the slum since her birth. Tragedy struck after her husband died a few years ago. Her teenage daughter has become a drug addict. Begum, who sometimes eats food at a nearby anganwadi, finds it difficult to get her daughter treated for the addiction.This is the story of many in the slum.

Valli, a social worker in Koramangala, says police do not go into the dark corners of the slums where most teenagers consume drugs. “Many youngsters have even died, but nobody, not even the police, is able to trace where

the drugs are coming from.”

Jennifer, a slum-dweller in Koramangala, has a brother who became a drug addict when he was 20. He hits her. Sometimes

he even assaults their parents under the influence of drugs.

“He studied till class eight. He was pretty average, but never would he harm us or himself.

After getting influenced by his peers, he started taking drugs. Since then, he has cut his hand and even hit our parents several times. He has completely changed,” Jennifer said.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, prohibits a person from the production/manufacture /cultivation, possession, sale, purchasing, transport, storage, and/ or consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.

B.S. Ashok, police inspector, Anti-Narcotics Wing, Central Crime Branch (CCB), said the CCB has caught 100 Africans with drugs in Bengaluru.

Asked about drug addiction in slums, the inspector said there are no drug addicts there.. “They do not have money to spend on food. How will they spend on drugs?” Drugs like MDMA and LSD cost thousands of rupees.

But the social worker Valli said drug addicts steal from their neighbours to buy drugs. They also indulge in stabbing, fighting and eve-teasing.

Catching drug smugglers P3 yukta.m@iijnm.org

% of 5th-graders who can’t read class 2 texts up

Govt-run schools face enrolment, attendance issues

By Yashaswini Sri

Acomparison of ASER reports over the years has some startling findings: The percentage of fifth-graders who had trouble reading second grade-level texts has gone up significantly.

In 2012, the percentage of such students was 52.8, rising to 54.3 in 2014, to 58.1 in 2016, and declining to 52.4 in 2018. In 2022, it grew to a whopping 70.8.

The New Indian Express reports that ASER 2022 surveyed around seven lakh candidates from 19,060 schools across 616

districts to calculate the learning outcomes post-pandemic for schoolchildren. As many as 3.74

lakh households and 6.99 lakh children in the 3-16 age group were surveyed.

A. Joshi, a member of ASER Centre, explained Pratham Education Foundation’s data survey to The Observer: “Every even-numbered year ASER takes an All-India survey and records the results. We do a comparison study with the data available for even-numbered years. It is not possible for us to do surveys every year to do the survey annually.”

Ramesh Rathod, a headmaster at a Government Primary High School in Sandur taluk, Ballari district, said: “We have no issues with the enrolment and attendance rate in our school. However, we are always short of teachers in our school, especially teachers to teach English. With such short staff....children the individual student.

Rise in private tuitions P3 yashaswini.s@iijnm.org

News briefs

Toll in Turkey, Syria quake nears 5,000

Four devastating quakes hit Turkey’s southern regions, causing widespread destruction. Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning. India is sending two more C-17 Air Forces planes to Turkey with a 60 Para Field Hospital and personnel to assist in rescue and relief operations. A defence officials, the Agra-based Army Field Hospital has sent an 89-member medical team. ANI & Indian Express Scared govt not allowing debate on Adani: Cong

Amid the logjam in Parliament over the Adani-Hindenburg issue, the Congress on Tuesday said the opposition wants the two Houses to function but the government is “afraid” and isn’t even allowing it to raise the demand for a JPC probe. The Congress also alleged the government is making no effort to break the logjam. PTI Gowri sworn in as judge after SC dismisses petition

Just as lawyer Lekshmana

Chandra Victoria Gowri was being sworn in as an additional judge of the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions against her elevation as a judge. The petitioners had cited Gowri’s alleged hate speech against Muslims and Christians, arguing it made her unfit to take the oath. NDTV Clinton announces $50m climate fund for women

Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state, has announced a US$50 million Global Climate Resilience Fund for women to combat climate change. She told salt pan workers at Kuda village in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district that the fund will empower women and communities to combat climate change and help give new livelihood opportunities and education. WION

Gilgit in PoK has no electricity for a week

People in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan are living under severe circumstances, including a shortage of power supply amid a massive economic crisis that has gripped Pakistan. People in many areas in Gilgit city are forced to live in darkness for the past one week. ANI

No bidder for tender, pay & park initiative of BBMP yet to take off; citizens have mixed reaction | P 2

Teenagers in slums fall prey to drugs like MDMA and find it difficult to get out of the addiction. | Credit: Yukta Mudgal

Owing to the corona virus pandemic, ASER could not conduct the survey for the year 2020 | Credit: Yashaswini Sri

Waste management will be a problem for e-vehicle market

EVs not the only alternative to fossil fuels

By Hamsaveni N

Increasedelectric vehicles

(EV) sales have brought forth the challenges of the availability of charging stations and management of e-waste generated by EVs.

Government initiatives and a major push towards EVs have been successful going by sales which reached the one million mark by the end of 2022. According to data from the government’s E-Vahan website, 1,003,000 EVs were registered until December 31, 2022.

But the worry is that the government still lags in constructing adequate infrastructure for EV- charging stations and battery-swapping facilities.

A research report by Lexology, a law business research platform on e-vehicles and their alignment with environmental laws in India, says the EV lithium-ion battery, which contains chemicals like cobalt, graphite and nickel, is hazardous to human health and the environment. Expired lithium-ion batteries need to be disposed of carefully. India is unprepared to handle the

Quiz

1. Which famous Hockey player has written the book Golden Hat trick?

2. Hockey matches in the Olympics were organized for the first time on Astro turf at?

3. Which institution will be provided a grant of Rs 242 Crore to undertake research on Lab Grown Diamonds?

4. What is the name of the first Indian space mission to observe the Sun?

5. How many teachers and support staff are to be recruited in the next 3 years, for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools?

6. What will be the global Hub for Millets?

7. What is the new MSME scheme announced in the Union Budget 2023?

8. What is the name of the nodal national entity set up under the Department of Space, to regulate Indian industry in space sector?

9. A drug named ‘Inmazeb’ has been approved as the first drug for treating which disease?

10. What is the name of the earth observation satellite to be launched by ISRO aboard PSLV-C49?

11. Which country issued a notice to Pakistan seeking modification of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)?

Answers on Page 4

growing sales of EV batteries. Recycling lithium-ion batteries helps harvest cobalt and lithium in them.

The E-waste Management Amendment Rules, 2018, lack comprehensive guidelines regarding the proper and safe disposal of batteries.

Megha Paul, consultant, Global Green Institute, said: “If we look at all the policies that the government is implementing on EV-charging infrastructure, the main problem we observe is that we don’t have sufficient market penetration in order to set up charging stations viable in

all parts of the city…. We can’t set up charging stations everywhere and expect developers to go along with it, so it all depends on location and sales. The government should ensure that the business models are viable for developers.”

Chaya V, an EV user, informed The Observer: “I recently started using an e-vehicle. Charging vehicles in my home is sufficient as of now, but if my family decides to shift to EVs, then the need for charging facilities will increase. I have heard about the city getting EV-charging stations and battery-swapping stations soon,

Citizen’s Voice

Care for existing trees, do not plant saplings

but I don’t see any work here.”

Jayantha JD, an EV user from Chikkaballapur district, said: “There are no charging stations in my place. It’s been just six months since I am using an EV. I charge my vehicle from home. I also see a rapid shift to EVs and the need for stations increasing. Proper charging points, policies on buying on selling EVs, high-standard batteries and safety measures will encourage more people to choose EVs.”

Paul explained: “A battery can’t be used if its efficiency reduces below 70 per cent. The government is focusing on recycling batteries…I wonder why the government is not speaking anything regarding battery recycling centres for theese vehicles. I think the main reason is we don’t have that great a market yet and E-Vehicles alone are not the final option to replace petrol and diesel (vehicles).”

Prathima B, professor of environmental engineering, BMS College of Engineering, said: “It’s true that EV sales are increasing at a fast rate. This forecast should be done in the first go. We should have exclusive policies on handling batteries and the precautionary measures (to be taken) because they are very hazardous.Hydrogen is one such solution which we can explore more.”

hamsaveni.n@iijnm.org

Instead of pressuring people to plant more trees as a solution to the massive cutting down of trees, the government should focus on improving the quality of the existing trees and protect them by taking care of their health. Chopping down trees and planting new saplings to balance the loss is illogical, and not sustainable. The government needs to find better alternatives and think about our environment.

Vijay Nishanth

Hostel kitchens must also be inspected

It is not just the restaurants that have to be inspected by the health department for safety standards. Hostel kitchens must also be inspected to make sure that the hygiene standards are met. Recently, over a hundred students fell ill in Mangaluru possibly due to food poisoning. It is high time that we took this matter seriously.

Arsha B.S.

Education is a good way to curb child marriages

What kind of crackdown on child marriages has the Assam government done? Putting people in jail is not the solution. Promoting education in under-privileged sections of society is more important, Because even after the men have been arrested, their wives are protesting as they are depended on the spouses. The women, due to lack of education, still think that there is nothing wrong with child marriages.

Yukta Mudgal

No bidder for tender, pay & park policy of BBMP yet to be implemented

Public opinion on it is divided

By Arsha. B.S.

Thepay and park initiative of BBMP remains unimplemented as there is still no bidder for the tender yet.

Jayasimha H.N., executive engineer of the traffic engineering section of BBMP, informed The Observer: “We’re going to call for the tender again with certain modifications. We’re going to reduce the tender amount next time. All the main roads of Bengaluru will have paid parking. It will take some time, but it will definitely happen.”

According to a Bangalore Mirror report: “Almost all places including commercial areas and residential zones will be covered under the pay and park system, while the policy has also laid down guidelines on roads where parking should be completly banned by the BBMP”

The pay and park policy was announced by the BBMP to con-

trol burgeoning traffic in the city.

BBMP has not yet declared any date in which the policy will be implemented. The policy aims to encourage the use of public transport by the citizens.

Muninanjappa, a motorist, said: “A pay and park system will help clear traffic.People will stop parking randomly, blocking

others’ way. I don’t mind paying to park. It is a good initiative. They need to implement it as soon as possible.”

The initiative has invited mixed reactions from people.

S. Sairam, another motorist, said he is not ready to pay for parking on public roads. “Roads are public property. We should not be asked to pay to park on

these roads. It is unfair. I think that is the reason why it could not be implemented yet. I don’t think it could be so easily done or be successful,” he said.

Vikram Singh, a citizen, said: “Pay and park is necessary in this city. It should be implemented soon to bring some discipline in the way people park. But I don’t think it is needed in residential zones. In other areas it should be implemented.”

According to the information provided on the Directorate of Urban Land Transport’s website, the fee to park differs from area to area. This policy requires residents to obtain a permit by paying an annual fee to park even in front of their houses in residential zones. The parking permit allows the residents to park their vehicle only if there is space available. It doesn’t necessarily reserve a space for the permit holder.

The policy was first prepared in 2012 and it was revised and approved by the Karnataka government in February 2021. arsha.s@iijnm.org

The government still lags in constructing adequate infrastructure for EV- charging stations | Credit: Anuja Mistry

The pay and park policy was announced by the BBMP to control burgeoning traffic in the city | Credit: Arsha. B.S.

Boosting 5G is not without challenges for its users

People don’t understand Internet of Things devices are insecure

By Vindhya Pabolu

5G technology can increase the risk of advanced botnets, privacy violations, and faster data extraction. People remain unaware of the fact that the more IoT (Internet of Things) devices, the greater is the problem. They fail to understand that IoT devices are insecure; security is often not built in from the start.

Many 5G users say they face a lot of connectivity problems and security breaches.

Gopalan Das, a businessman who uses 5G network explained to The Observer:“My mobile changed to 5G recently. I faced a lot of connectivity problems. There were some black spots where I lost connectivity completely and faced a lot of problems. It’s okay in some situations but what about emergency?”

Asked about the security issues he further said: “I didn’t give much thought about it but I came across a lot of situations where my phone screen goes blank and some glitches happen, I never tried to find about it.”

Yashwanth S, who works at Fintech Cooperation and is a 5G user, said: “I faced a lot of connectivity issues. My mobile often used to get unwanted messages like OTPs, mails. My mobile would go blank. The issues were unbearable in the initial stages.”

Krishna Aditya, a medical student and 5G user, said: “After using 5G, I noticed more spam messages and ads. We faced similar problems with 4G but 5G can be more vulnerable for the easily exploited.”

According to a report by Trend Micro and GSMA Intelligence, 68 per cent of operators sell private wireless networks to enterprise customers, and the rest will do so by 2025. And they know that cybersecurity will be key: 45 per cent say it is “extremely important” to invest in it to achieve

Quality education still a dream for many

By Yashaswini Sri

Did You Know

At one point in August 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first professional team to field nine players who were either black or Latino. Coincidentally, this was the same year they won the World Series.

Source: Bleacher Report

process makes the devices an easier target for cyberattacks.

Anitha Marry, a cybersecurity professor at Christ University, explained: “People are hooked with the latest technology as 5G is trending now. When it comes to security issues, India at present doesn’t have enough infrastructure to give enough security for the users. There should be more terms and conditions, encryption making connections…. People aren’t aware of this. As far as I know, India still needs to look more into 5G as most of the people are changing their connections into 5G.

Quote of the Week

“One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away.”

Stephen Hawking

Tweetcasm

long-term enterprise revenue goals. But here’s where the problems begin.

It further mentions that with 5G there are new and greater security risks to consider as cloud, data and IoT threats merge. In fact, 32 per cent of operators point to an increased attack surface as a key challenge here. Yet 48 per cent of operators admit that they don’t have enough knowledge to deal with security.

Apart from that it increases the risk of hacking. Lack of encryption during the connection

Divyanshu Verma, chief security officer of Redinent Innovations, a security systems supplier in Bengaluru, explained: “5G is very safe if the devices are also safe. It doesn’t solely depend on the connections but also on the devices being used as 5G acts as a medium between people and the devices. It allows localised services and because of the poor security services and less security mobiles it’s easy for the hackers to breach into the information…. These days personal data is exposed too much. People have to look into the issues like where the equipment is coming, are they standardised before rolling out into services.”

Read the full story on www.theweeklyobserver.in

Paytm app gave me a salute card because it saw a payment for organic salad instead of Vada Pav @Sagarcasm

Weather

Maximum Temperature: 27°C

Minimum Temperature: 17°C

Dew Point: 14 °C

Humidity: 45%

Wind: 6 km/h

Visibility: 6 km

Air quality: Poor

Wind gusts: 33km/hr

Pressure:1018 mbar

UV Index: 6 of 10

Pressure :29.77 in

Forecast: 31 / 17 °C

Wind: 10 km/hr

Catching drug smugglers in slums is tough for police

By Yukta Mudgal

Shortage

of staff is deteriorating the quality of education in government schools of Rural Karnataka. As a result, many students turn to private tuitions to fill the gap.

A report by ASER highlights an increase in the number of private tuition takers. Enrollment in government schools has increased significantly since 2018 ASER 2022 shows an increase in enrollment of students in schools nationwide, despite the pandemic, but it also highlights the basic reading and arithmetic ability have dropped in students.

Aditya Kumar, a resident of Narayanapura village, Sandur taluk, commented on the quality of education his children receive:

“I enrolled my children in tuition because the quality of education has deteriorated in the government schools. In fact, I am planning to shift them to private schools next year.”

Santosh Bajantri, a teacher at a Government Primary High School in Savanur taluk, said: “We have problems... I under-

stand that the quality of education is a question mark. However, school staff do everything to improve so children can get better in their studies.”

G.S. Jayadev, founder of Deenabandhu, an award-winning school for rural children in Chamarajanagar said: “Our government schools have the highest unauthorized absence of the teachers. This has the maximum effect on the students and the quality of education they receive. The more we build English-medium government schools, the lesser their mother-tongue language schools will be. This will lead to them not learning their own language or English. The majority of parents wish for their children to learn English, but are unaware of the quality of education they receive. .”

Deccan Herald report, stated over 44 per cent of students in the first standard across Karnataka cannot even read an alphabet.The study shows a steep decline in learning in children, even when enrollment numbers in 2012 had fallen marginally.

yashaswini.s@iijnm.org

Drug addiction continues to be an issue in a slum in Hombegowda Nagar as the culprits remain unidentified.

B.S. Ashok, police inspector, Anti-Narcotics Wing, didn’t denied about slum’s drug problem . He said drugs either come from Africa or North India. “During Covid, everyone went to their native places. As Covid decreased, the drug cases increased.” He didn’t denied the possibility of the rich selling drugs to the poor.

Shakina Begum said a teenager in the Hombegowda Nagar slum died because of drug injections. Not even MLAs, are able to help her daughter, who now dresses as a boy and runs away from home.

A similar problem has been observed by Valli, who has raised the issue at the Adugodi police station. Residents of slums are unable to inform the police who sell drugs. “How do we know who the culprit is? This is the work of the police, isn’t it?” she said.

Shakina was told about her daughter’s addiction by a police inspector. In the initial stage. Shakina’ s daughter was taken to a police station without her permission. She was harassed and her blood sample was taken.

Asked what drugs she takes, Shakina said she takes “MD”. She used to hang around with girls older than her who used to provide her with drugs She paid for the drugs by stealing money.

For now, Shakina’s daughter does not interact with those girls. Children below 14 consume drugs in the slum, which is leads to crimes and unwanted pregnancies. When the parents approach the police, they are told to keep their daughters inside their homes.

“I can share my problems with anganwadi workers, but I don’t trust them as they might spread the word.” Shakina said.

Erick, who was an addict for seven years, has now been sober for three years. He helps people, in slums, to quit drug.

From his experience in helping addicts in Srirampura and Hala-

suru, Bengaluru, as well as Goa, he said that during the process of “12 AA”, only 3 per cent of addicts are able to get out of their addiction; the rest 97 per cent leave in between. “It’s been three years since I left drugs, but I still feel the craving.”

The 12-step programme used by Alcoholics Anonymous is used by most rehabilitation centres. Addicts are made to believe in a superpower or God. Through this belief, they are able to forget the past and move on.

Erick also shared about a world community platform called “No Matter What Club”, which gives addicts an opportunity to speak for themselves. The meeting starts with several prayers. Every addict is given a minute to speak up.

Shakina does not know about the 12 AA programme. So she The only solution she knew took her daughter to the nearby Arogya Kendra, where she was prescribed tablets and chewing gum to eliminate addiction. Neither helped her daughter get better.

yukta.m@iijnm.org

Many users are facing challenges while accessing 5G as they do not have enough knowledge. | Credit: Vindhya Pabolu

India lacks vaccine for HMFD

It’s a common disease that’s not life-threatening

By Yukta Mudgal

InIndia, there is no vaccine to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). The disease is not severe but highly contagious among the children.

HFMD, also known as tomato flu, is a viral disease caused by coxsackievirus and enterovirus 71. Vaccines against viral infections like measles and Covid are available in India but there is no vaccine for HFMD.

Dr Vibha P., former consultant in the women and child development department, government of Karnataka, said HFMD is widely spread in crowds. “We have MMR, a vaccine for measles, but we do not have a vaccine to prevent HFMD because it’s a common disease which is not lifethreatening. Making a vaccine is a difficult and diring process. We have seen this during the making of Covid vaccines.”

Diagnosis for HFMD is ambiguous because these days it necessarily does not spread on all parts including hand, foot and mouth. “Sometimes it happens only on foot or just on hand or feet. We cannot just say the symptoms because they are not specific or defined.”

Asked whether a person can repeatedly get diagnosed with

HFMD, Dr Vibha said it depends on a person’s immunity system.

HFMD is a zoonotic disease which is spread through cattle. If cattle are treated, it will not spread to humans.

However, Dr Thanuja H.A., a veterinarian, disagreed. She said foot and mouth disease in cattle and the hand, foot and mouth disease in children are different diseases; humans generally cannot catch this disease from animals.

“Foot and mouth disease in cattle or cloven footed animals is caused by picornavirus. Cattle disease and HFMD in humans have similar symptoms like blisters and fever. Humans cannot catch it from animals like rabies,

which can spread through saliva….”

There is a vaccine for cattle which is known as footvac vaccine (inactivated), but there is no vaccine for HFMD in humans.

An Indian Express report said: “While there are no vaccines, it (HFMD) is a self-limiting disease and requires symptomatic treatment. The infection lasts for 7-14 days. It has a fast-spreading rate in humid climates.”

As per the health and family welfare ministry, tomato flu was first identified in the Kollam district, Kerala on May 6, 2022.

Anuj Gupta, a virologist at Shilpa Biologicals Private Limited, Dharwad, said Indian companies work on the major diseas-

es. But this virus can be easily prevented by using soap or any other disinfectant. “Though some vaccines are undergoing clinical trials, and some projects are still in the pipeline.”

Salini Sharath from Kerala narrated the episode when her two-year-old son last year was diagnosed with HFMD: “The red spots and blisters started from the thigh and then spread to his foot. By the afternoon, his whole mouth including the lips had blisters. He was not able to drink milk and couldn’t even eat anything which was really disheartening for all of us. The doctor prescribed us some medicines for fever and asked us to apply calamine lotion on his body. My son suffered pus bursts, fever and vomiting.”

The condition of other children in her locality was worse. A few of them were not able to wear clothes because blisters had spread all over their bodies.

As per the World Economic Forum, the China Food and Drug Administration approved the first vaccine against EV71, an inactivated (killed) vaccine made by the Institute of Medical Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015. The vaccine developed by the institute showed vaccine efficacy of 97.4 per cent.

Among the HFMD symptoms mentioned by the National Health Portal are poor appetite, red spots, headache and painful sores on the tongue. yukta.m@iijnm.org

Pollution spoiling health of Bengaluru’s plants

By Vindhya Pabolu

Wonders of World Iguazu National Park

The semicircular waterfall at the heart of this site is some 80 m high and 2,700 m in diameter and is situated on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil. Made up of many cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The surrounding subtropical rainforest has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and Caymans. Located in Misiones Province in the Northeastern tip of Argentina and bordering the Brazilian state of Parana to the north, Iguazú National Park, jointly with its sister park Iguaçu in Brazil, is among the world’s visually and acoustically most stunning natural sites for its massive waterfalls. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984, creating an humid climate. Courtesy: UNESCO

Around the city

Travel and Tourism Fair - 10 and 12 February Venue - Bangalore Palace, Vasanth Nagar Web Development with Web2Py - 6 February onwards Venue - UB city, Vittal Malya Road, Ashok Nagar, Bangalore

Bengaluru’s

greenery, which kept the city cool, is receding. Reasons: Excessive pollution and climatic factors.

The pH level of leaf extracts in Bengaluru has risen to the 4.325.1 range, which is acidic, affecting the health of plants.

A research paper on Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) says plants in urban areas are constantly exposed to air pollutants, causing their integration into the system, resulting in changing the nature of the leaf and its tolerance and sensitivity.

A plant’s pH should be around 6.5-7, resulting in the plant’s healthy growth and photosynthesis. Individually, these biochemical parameters do not signify anything, but collectively they help in building a greener and safer environment.

Dr Priyadarshini Pillai, head of botany at Jyothi Nivas College and one of the people behind the research paper, said: “We did much work on air quality and how pollution affects the environment. After we thought of changing our topic and observations, we came across this pH and how important factor it plays in tree health.

“Trees are planted for a better

environment. If a tree’s health is affected, what’s the point of planting more? The health of a tree is also important as it gives us one of the important elements for the living race to live on.”

The current PM2.5 concentration in Bengaluru is 3.3 times the limit given by the WHO.

Vijay Nishanth, a tree doctor and urban conservationist

at Project Vruksha Foundation, said: “A decrease in pH levels will become more stressful for the tree. That is why today we can see fungal infections, pests on trees, premature falling, poor growth, root damage, and inability to (perform) photosynthesis…. If the tree is not functioning properly, obviously the air quality produced will de-

crease and the benefits we get will also change. Bengaluru’s soil is so fertile, it can grow any kind of plant. There are some trees which benefit the soil. So, in some way, the soil of the city is also being affected.”

Asked about a solution, he added: “Every city has a certain capacity and we have crossed that limit. An IISc report says that for one person seven trees are required. Do we have that now? So that’s the reason cities should have distributed growth, decreasing the stress on environment. The government knows the situation. But they still planned to cut trees for the Sankey tank flyover. Cutting trees should never be an option for development purposes for any country. They should find an alternative”

Chinna Babu, an agricultural professor who holds a degree in environmental engineering, said: “Tree leaves turning acidic is not a new topic but a concern that should be raised. It affects the environment. The government has to take initiatives and conduct programmes like cleaning leaves and regularly checking trees’ health for a better environment and not let this affect human’s health eventually..”

Read the complete story on www.theweeklyobserver.in

Quiz answers

Produced by the Print students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media at Nityananda Nagar, Kumbalgodu, Kengeri hobli, Bengaluru 560074.

Editor: Hamsaveni N

News Editor: Yukta Mudgal

Copy editors: Arsha BS, Vindhya Pabolu, Yashaswini S

Photo editor: Siddhi Chauhan

Other IIJNM publication

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l CityCast

l The SoftCopy

l Newsnet

The current PM2.5 concentration in Bengaluru is 3.3 times above the limit recommended by the WHO | Credit: Vindhya Pabolu