Steel flyover project may bulldoze at least 500 trees

Form tree committee, hold public consultation, say greens

 If one thought that trees were being axed only for Metro rail, here is more bad news. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has proposed to axe at least 500 trees for the 6.9-km steel flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal.

Preliminary assessment by BDA officials put the number of trees facing the axe at not less than 500 trees. These trees are young and old ones and have stood as canopies for decades on prime roads - Ballari Road, Sankey Road, Palace Road and Millers Road.

“The final report is not yet prepared. It will be done after a detailed survey. But as per our preliminary assessment, 490-500 trees will be cut. We have written to the BBMP forest cell that trees need to be cut, as the roads belong to BDA. But the final number has not yet been communicated to them,” a BDA official told Deccan Herald.
A survey and numbering of trees will happen at a later stage, when the project takes final shape. The BDA has set a target to start groundbreaking work for the project in two months.

High Court order
This has not gone down well with conservationists. Environment Support Group member Leo Saldanha said that the High Court had ordered for forming tree committee and public consultation before pruning, cutting and uprooting large number of trees for any project.

As per High Court orders, change of land use should be as per Town and Country Planning Act. If these rules are not followed, it is contempt of court. This is because there has been no public consultation as per Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act and Tree Preservation Act, 1976.

There is also a HC division bench order that without public consultation and consent from a committee appointed by the court, no mass tree-felling should be executed. Even though the chief minister has put pressure to execute the project, the officials are duty-bound to follow HC directions. Otherwise, they risk being in contempt of court, Saldanha said. 

Vijay Nishanth, environmentalist and member of the tree committee formed under the High Court directions to inspect trees being axed for Metro rail, expressed shock at the number of trees proposed to be axed.

He said on one hand, the committee is chalking out plans for translocation, to save most of the 300 trees in the alignment for Metro phase II on Kanakapura Road and Mysuru Road.

On the other hand, the government wants to cut 500 trees for the flyover. It is a huge number. The government should draw the line before it is too late, he said.