Citizens free 110 trees from nails across the city

By Zahid H Javali

Vinod Kartavya (36), a technical officer at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and his team of concerned citizens, is on a mission to rid the city of nails from trees. After he got hurt while leaning on a tree, Kartavya, has been removing nails from trees with fellow citizens every Sunday since November 15, 2020. So far, his campaign has led to the removal of nails, placards, and signages from 110 trees across Bengaluru. Many dignitaries have joined his campaign, including BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad, film actor Kishore Kumar, former IPS officer K Annamalai, and cybercrime police inspector Rajesh LY. Former city police commissioner and additional director general of police Bhaskar Rao will be joining him next.

15 Sundays and counting…

“Last night was our 15th campaign,” says an excited Kartavya, who is also a member of B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee). “On a single day, we removed nails from trees in Vidyaranyapura, Indiranagar, Yeshwantpur, and Gandhi Bazaar.” So far, his Sunday campaigns have  covered a dozen wards. Next week, he will be visiting Basavanagudi and Vasantnagar. “We will be sending a letter from the city police commissioner to all the police stations that they should act on our complaints. We will provide the cops with information by taking pictures of these paper posters.”

‘Marshalls can catch the offenders red-handed’

Kartavya also suggests that the BBMP marshalls who are supposed to act on people violating COVID-19 and solid waste management norms, can also help in nabbing the culprits red-handed. “We have enough manpower and this is also a revenue-generating act,” he says. “Instead of chasing people violating the garbage and COVID-19 norms, they have to only call and fine those who nail bills to the trees.”

Continuous implementation is key

Citizens can only pressurise the authorities to act. The ultimate implementation is in the hands of cops and the BBMP. “The practice of sticking bills is still there despite the ‘kill bill’ campaign,” says Kartavya. “However, there is greater awareness now. That’s why the offenders now stick posters after midnight. Until they are penalised, they won’t stop.”

Ever since his campaign began, only one person has been officially fined by the BBMP. He was caught red-handed and asked to pay Rs 2,500 for nailing a bill to a tree. “I want this to be a citizen movement rather than a single-person led event,” says Kartavya. “We have a ‘nails-free tree challenge’ on social media where we are asking every citizen to remove nails and post their selfies with the hashtag #Nails_Free_Tree_India.”

‘Nailing bills to trees is a criminal offence’

Joining one of Kartavya’s Sunday campaigns, BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad termed the act of nailing advertisements into trees as a criminal offence. He has vouched to take action on the advertisers. Therefore, if you are an advertiser who has been guilty of this earlier, it’s time to do away with this habit. Not only does the act of stapling anything to a tree fall foul of the Tree Preservation Act but also the Bangalore Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 and the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 that prohibits advertisements in public spaces without official sanction. The Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement Act) even gives the authorities enough legal muscle to punish the offenders. 

Past efforts have failed

The intent was there even a decade ago when a nail-removal campaign was announced by the BBMP in 2011. What’s more, Rs 5000 fine was fixed for those violating this rule. However, the civic body failed to implement the rules thereafter.

Support from London

Kartavya is requesting the prime minister to call for ‘nails-free-trees’ in India. Former mayor of the London borough of Lambeth Dr Neeraj Patil has also supported Vinod’s campaign in a video message, and asked the citizens to take up the exercise in their wards and make it a city-wide success.