Every festive season, trees across Indian cities become supports for strings of decorative lights. 

In Mysuru now, a sustained campaign by environmentalists and local residents has prompted the Forest Department to draw a line. Trees can no longer be used for illumination during Dasara or any other occasion.

The Forest Department has directed the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) commissioner and the managing director of Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) not to use trees for illumination during Dasara or any other occasion in the city.

Deputy Conservator of Forests K Paramesha issued the order on Thursday, following complaints from environmentalists and members of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP). Forest officials have warned CESC and its contractors that failure to remove wires could invite action under the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976.

The decision follows weeks of objections to lighting installations on trees ahead of this year's Dasara celebrations. It also brings a recurring question about festive decorations into sharper focus: how can cities celebrate without putting their urban trees at risk?

When the decorations become a concern

Mysuru's experience is not an isolated one. Across India, campaigns against attaching decorative lights to trees have highlighted the tension between public celebrations and the care of urban green spaces.

In December 2024, The Indian Express reported on concerns in Pune over decorative lighting installations on trees, including wires and metal fasteners attached to trunks. In Mumbai, activist Rohit Manohar Joshi filed a public interest litigation challenging artificial lighting and electrical wiring on trees. 

In April 2024, the Bombay High Court sought responses from the Maharashtra government and civic bodies on the matter.

Bengaluru, too, has seen residents take up the issue. In November 2019, teenagers from an Interact Club approached shops along Indiranagar's 100 Feet Road, asking business owners to remove fairy lights from roadside trees.

These cases point to a problem that can recur whenever streets, commercial districts and public spaces are decorated for festivals. While the immediate objective is to illuminate a road or make a neighbourhood festive, the method of installation matters. Wires tied tightly around trunks, nails driven into bark and attachments that penetrate living tissue can create avoidable risks for........

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