‘Don’t Turn Trees Into Light Poles’: How Mysuru Is Rethinking Festive Decorations

Mysuru’s Forest Department has prohibited the use of trees as supports for festive illumination. The direction applies to the Mysuru City Corporation, or MCC, and Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation, or CESC. It covers Dasara and any other occasion in the city. The order matters because decorative installations can damage urban trees and expose them to electrical and physical risks.

Deputy Conservator of Forests K Paramesha issued the order after complaints from environmentalists and Mysore Grahakara Parishat members. Contractors had used nails, wires and tree trunks for lighting on several roads. Forest officials warned that failing to remove the wires could lead to action under the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976.

The decision changes the response from removing individual wires to stopping the practice itself. It followed renewed installations on Chamaraja Double Road and weeks of objections before Dasara. Future celebrations in Mysuru must therefore place lights on other structures rather than living trees.

The campaign was driven by environmentalists, local residents and members of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat, or MGP. They complained that festive lights were being attached to trees and asked authorities to stop the practice. Their sustained pressure turned repeated removals into a citywide restriction on using trees for illumination.

MGP members wrote to the Forest Department, CESC and MCC the previous month. Environmentalists Shylajesha and Banu Prashanth also worked with CESC contractors and Forest Department staff to remove nails and wires. After installations returned, environmentalists hugged trees on 3 October and submitted a complaint. MGP members and tree authority member Ravishankar Bale sent a separate letter seeking a broader ban.

Deputy Conservator of Forests K Paramesha issued the order. MCC’s commissioner and CESC’s managing director received the direction. CESC and its contractors were warned that ignoring it could trigger action under the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976.

Nails, metal fasteners and tightly tied wires can physically injure a living tree. Puncturing the bark creates wounds that damage protective tissue and may expose inner layers. Attachments can also tear bark when they are removed or when branches and trunks move. Tight wires may press into the trunk and restrict its expansion as the tree grows.

The article specifically identifies nails driven into bark, wires tied tightly around trunks and attachments that penetrate living tissue as avoidable risks. In Mysuru, environmentalists and officials removed nails and wires from trees after CESC began installing lights. The recurring installations showed why removing one wire at a time did not solve the wider problem.

The source does not describe a measured injury rate or a specific disease caused by the hardware. It does establish that the installations can damage trees and that Forest officials treated the practice seriously. Mysuru’s order therefore prevents trees from being used as supports rather than waiting for visible harm.

Attaching festive lights to trees is reported in multiple Indian cities, although the article gives no national total or percentage. Mysuru’s campaign is presented as part of a wider pattern. Similar concerns have emerged in Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru, especially where streets, commercial areas and public spaces receive seasonal decorations.

In Pune, a December 2024 report described wires and metal fasteners attached to tree trunks. In Mumbai, activist Rohit Manohar Joshi filed public interest litigation against artificial lighting and electrical wiring on trees. In Bengaluru, teenagers from an Interact Club asked shops on Indiranagar’s 100 Feet Road to remove fairy lights from roadside trees in November 2019.

These examples show that the practice can recur during festivals and public events. They do not establish how many cities use it or how many trees are affected. The broader implication is clear: cities need safer decoration rules and installation methods that do not rely on living trees.

Artificial light at night means human-made illumination that reaches plants during nighttime. Decorative LEDs, streetlights and other electrical lighting can extend light exposure beyond the natural day-night cycle. This matters because trees use changes between daylight and darkness to regulate processes such as photosynthesis and nighttime metabolism.

The article cites a 2023 study by E Lo Piccolo and colleagues on plane and lime trees under LED street lighting. The researchers found changes in nighttime carbon assimilation and photosynthetic performance. Those findings indicate that artificial illumination can influence processes trees would normally regulate according to natural cycles. A Beijing experiment also found that Japanese spindle and hybrid roses responded differently to different LED colours.

The effects depend on factors such as light intensity, duration and colour, though the provided article does not give a complete risk threshold. Its central point is that lighting can affect plant physiology, not merely appearance. Cities should therefore consider both hardware damage and nighttime light exposure when planning decorations.

Cities can keep festive streets bright without fastening decorations to living trees. Suitable supports include purpose-built poles, existing streetlight structures, building facades, temporary arches and freestanding frames. Lights can also be suspended across roads from engineered supports, provided installations meet electrical and public-safety requirements. These alternatives keep the celebration while avoiding punctures, constriction and direct contact with trunks.

Mysuru’s experience shows why a different installation method is needed. CESC contractors used trees on roads including Chamaraja Double Road, and environmentalists helped remove nails and wires. The Forest Department then prohibited trees as supports during Dasara or any other occasion. The article itself does not prescribe a particular replacement structure.

The practical implication is to plan decoration routes before installation and identify approved nonliving supports. Contractors should inspect attachments and remove them promptly after events. Cities can also keep artificial lighting away from sensitive vegetation where possible. These measures follow the article’s broader concern: public celebrations should not put urban trees at avoidable risk.

Trees normally use the day-night cycle as a biological timing system. Daylight supports photosynthesis, when leaves capture light energy and assimilate carbon. Darkness changes the plant’s activity, allowing nighttime metabolism and regulation. The length of day and night also helps many plants coordinate growth and seasonal activity. These patterns are built around predictable natural light and darkness.

The article links this timing issue to a 2023 study of plane and lime trees under LED street lighting. Researchers found changes in nighttime carbon assimilation and photosynthetic performance. The finding suggests that light during normally dark hours can influence processes that trees would otherwise regulate through their natural cycles. A Beijing experiment found that responses also varied by LED colour.

The article does not provide a full account of how trees regulate every seasonal process. It does show that nighttime illumination can alter plant physiology. Cities should therefore limit unnecessary light near trees and choose decoration systems that reduce both physical attachment and disruption of natural darkness.