Constantly in the news for being unable to curtail sandalwood thefts on its vast campus, Bangalore University (BU) is now in talks with the Institute of Wood Science and Technology to install chips in sandalwood trees and number each of them.
The 1,100-acre Bangalore University campus is home to the largest number of sandalwood trees in the city; the bio park, which houses most of them, is itself is spread over 600 acres. A study conducted by the Department of Environmental Science of the varsity in 2019 shows that there are 2,444 sandalwood trees on the campus. However, the flipside has been that the site attracts thieves who have, for years, plundered this prized natural resource. An official from BU admitted that more than 40 trees have been missing from the campus in the last one year, most of them chopped and smuggled by miscreants.
Speaking to The Hindu, BU Vice-Chancellor K.R. Venugopal said at present, digital numbering of all sandalwood trees on the campus was going on. “Once this is completed, then decisions related to their security will be taken.” Prof. Venugopal admitted that there was no data at present on how many trees have gone missing. But he said instances of thefts had reduced during the pandemic years.
Chairman of the Department of Environmental Science and Member of the Campus Development Committee, B.C. Nagaraja, said BU is the “land of sandalwood,” but despite high security, some trees have been lost. “The main reason is that the university area is open to public access. We already discussed and drafted some solutions to save the trees, including deploying security, increasing the number of CCTV cameras, setting up watchtowers and installing chips in sandalwood trees - at least in all mature trees,” he said.
University authorities are certain that thieves use battery-operated, noiseless wood-cutting machines and they let trees to dry so that they can carry them easily after two to three days. “Most of the trees are just about 40cm wide at the base. We are also certain that insiders or habitual offenders are involved because most of the incidents happen at night and is tough to carry out for a complete outsider,” said an official, who wished anonymity, alleging also that complaints made to the Jnanabharathi police do not help.
But an inspector in the Jnanabharathi police station refuted the accusations: “Whenever we get calls that such things happen, we immediately respond and visit the place. Every day, our team patrols the main roads two to three times at night. But there were no complaints lodged by the university in at least one-and-a-half years.”
Students flagged the need for better security overall. A student said: “The security on the campus is very poor. A few months ago, we heard a tree being cut near our hostel, but we were afraid and came back inside.”
M. Kotresh, Registrar (Administration), BU, said the varsity is also looking at increasing the number of CCTV cameras and home guards. “Free public access to the campus is one of the main problems. The main entrances are open, and there is no way we can close entry after a certain time,” he said.
