Brute BBMP power fells trees, people

HC intervention saves only two of the 19 earmarked trees; 11 protesters held, freed

Indicating an authoritarian streak, the Palike also got 11 protesting local residents and green activists arrested before the High Court ordered status quo.

In a temporary but delayed reprieve for the residents, the court directed the Palike not to fell any more trees—only two of which remain under the project requirement—on Sa­nkey Road until Monday.

The order was passed on Friday evening by a Division Bench comprising Justices Manjula Chellur and S N Satyanarayana, following a PIL by Dr Meenakshi Bharath, Dr Rajan Balasubramanya, H A Anil Kumar, Shivadarshan Balse and A Ashok of the Malleshwaram Swabhimana Initiative. The PIL was filed only on Friday morning.

The drama had begun to unfold in the early hours of Friday. As Malleswaram slept to the sound of pouring rain, few realised that the Palike had felled four trees between 1:30 am and 4 am. By 5 pm,  17 trees were chopped. The shell-shocked residents were left on the sidewalks with nothing but saw dust in the air. It was a “dark” day for the residents. 

Deceitful as it may seem for the residents, the tree felling ordered by the BBMP for the proposed widening of the Sankey Tank bund road pummelled through on Friday. Despite public agitation and an­ger, Deputy Mayor S Hari­sh’s promise to get the obstac­l­es removed was realised in 24 hours.

Call it “fear” of having to face more heat or plain “shrewdness,” the Palike move to use stealth to fool the residents left many saddened. Doubts were raised by the residents  wh­ether the BBMP had planned it to perfection to ensure that no more agitations blocked the road-widening project.  With assured protection from the Vyalikaval police and a battalion of the Karnataka State Reserve Police on stand by, the BBMP barricaded the entire road below the Sankey Tank Bund Road and cut down the trees, many of them over a hundred years old, ignoring the concern about the residents’ outbursts barely a few metres away.

“We are not sure as to when the auction of the trees was called for the second time. They have not shown any order from the tree officer concerned, who has successfully completed the auction and given the contract to fell the trees,” said the residents.

No option left

Scampering for legal remedies and generating more public support to crush the BBMP plans of road widening, residents and green activists were seen running helter-skelter and making frantic calls to those in power and position. However, towards the end, with little options to explore, “civil society”’ tried to push through and stall the tree felling.

The police eventually arrested 11 people, including six women, as a preventive measure and later released. The ch­arges against them were dropped.

Earlier, in their PIL, the petitioners had contended that the road-widening project and tree felling violated the Town and Country Act. Counsel for the petitioners Dr Ravi Varma Kumar said there was no publication about the road widening inviting objections. “ Even the High Court orders have been violated and the proposal to widen the road is irrational, arbitrary and unscientific,” he submitted.