Public talks today on widening Attibele-Sarjapur Rd

The government’s plan to decongest the tech corridor in the south-eastern part of the city is likely to spell doom on the last standing green cover in the region.

The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited’s (KRDCL) proposal to widen the state highway from Besthamaranahalli (Anekal) to Hoskote (NH-04) via Attibele-Sarjapura and Whitefield has stirred up a fresh controversy in the region with people supporting on both the sides.

Evincing public opinion on felling of trees, the forest department (Bengaluru Urban) has called for a public consultation meeting on Tuesday at Attibele.

According to activists from Voice of Sarjapura, the consultation is the second such meeting after a similar one was held on December 24.

“The first consultation was held to axe about 540 trees that cover three different stretches. In fact, due to poor communication, there were hardly any people during the consultation,” explained an activist. Giving details of the consultation, a senior forest official said: “The public consultation will cover project identified on two stretches. On the first stretch, the focus is on trees located between Kannamangala Cross and Hoskote Main Road followed by Kachamaranahalli to Gunjur section (BBMP border).”

“The second stretch would cover the six-kilometre stretch from Besthamaranahalli to state highway-35 (6 km) and Attibele-Sarjapur to state highway-35 (8 km). The people or organisations can voice their opinion at the meet.”

Deepanjali Naik, a member of the Voice of Sarjapura, told DH that there was a lot of confusion about the project among the KRDCL officials and no official was providing clarity on the nature of work.

“The officials say that the existing four-lane road will be widened to six lanes and the existing two-lane road be widened to four lanes. But the officials do not have any break-up on the details on where exactly they are widening,” Deepanjali said.

“Further, one agency says the only tree that is marked will be felled, and another agency says all trees along the project stretch would be axed. Let the officials explain on what grounds these plans have been made and if at all such huge number of trees to be axed, what are the alternatives?” Deepanjali questioned.