Citizens, BBMP at loggerheads over translocating trees

The opposition to the proposed widening of Jayamahal Road continues with protesters now urging the Mysuru royal family not to translocate trees on Palace Grounds to make way for road widening.

The Jayamahal Residents’ Welfare Association, with Citizens for Bengaluru, has written an open letter to the Mysuru royal family in this regard. “More than a thousand people had protested the move to cut trees and the BBMP received 30,000 objections as emails and letters. These facts are being disregarded in an attempt to ramrod the project in violation of the Town and Country Planning Act,” said the letter signed by Srinivas Alavilli of CfB.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said there was no question of cutting any tree. “We have already made this clear. We want to translocate all the 112 trees,” he said.

Noting that translocation has a success rate of a mere 1%, the association said the whole operation amounted to cutting trees. When asked about the protesters’ claim, the commissioner said, “There are agencies which have the experience of translocating over 5,000 trees successfully. We will take their help and make sure the environment is not harmed,” he said. The protesters said people using Jayamahal Road and residents do not consider road widening a solution to traffic congestion. A BBMP official familiar with the project, however, refuted the claim.

“The protesters are disconnected from road users and reality. Widening of the road is necessary for the current traffic situation let alone future needs. Why would the high court set the September 2017 deadline for completion of the project if it was unnecessary?” the official said. He said the BBMP has permitted Indrakshi Devi of the royal family to translocate five trees on private land. “After this pilot project, we will decide on shifting the remaining trees,” he said.