BBMP panel furious as BDA prepares to flout law on felling

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is paying no heed to the rules as it sets out to chop and transplant trees standing in the way of its steel flyover.

Scrambling to get the project going before citizens’ resistance mounts further, BDA is out to flout a mandatory requirement: getting permission from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Tree Committee.

Of the 812 trees, 56 will be translocated and 756 axed, the BDA has said. The rules say permission from the Tree Committee is a must to cut down more than 50 trees.

The BDA cannot start work on the ground before taking permission from the Tree Committee, but the government is impatient and is reportedly on the verge of issuing a work order.

The flyover is planned from Basaveshwara Circle and ends near Esteem Mall.

Appu Rao, BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests and Head of the Tree Committee, said the BDA had sought no permission so far. BDA Commissioner Rajkumar Khatri holds the view that it is all right to bypass the committee.

No permission is necessary since the high court has ordered the BBMP to permit tree felling to widen Sankey Road and ease traffic congestion on Ballari Road, he told DH.

Rao is not convinced, and says there is no way the BDA can skip the procedure. In another order, the high court has said public consultation and approval of the Tree Committee are mandatory if more than 50 tries are to be cut, he contended. If the BDA violates this direction, criminal action can be taken against its officials, Rao said.

In 2012, a division bench of Justice N Kumar and Justice H S Kempanna had dismissed a petition filed by residents of Malleswaram, observing that Sankey Road could not be widened if trees were not cut down.

Later, in 2014, the high court had directed the state government to form a tree committee to decide on projects that call for the felling of more than 50 trees. The government implemented this order only in early 2016, and a tree committee is now functional.

If BDA follows the law…

It is mandatory for the BDA to approach the BBMP Tree Committee for permission to cut down or translocate trees for the flyover project. Once the committee receives an application, it puts up a proposal for public scrutiny. The committee then conducts a field inspection. The process takes at least 30 days. If the BDA is not satisfied with the committee’s decision, it can approach the High Court. But it can’t axe or translocate trees without following due procedure.