Locals fume at tree-axing plan on Old Airport Road

Citizens are irate about the confusion on the number of trees the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike would fell to make way for a signal-free corridor on the Old Airport Road.

Ignoring the large protest the locals staged in 2017 against felling trees, the BBMP decided to get on with the project that envisages three underpasses in the area.

Residents of Vinayakanagar and surrounding areas protested against axing the trees near the ISRO Junction, claiming permission was not sought to fell them and added that 20 trees are marked for felling.

Local resident Arvinda Badrinath says nearly 18 trees have been felled. “All of them were felled without approval. They (the authorities) should hold a public consultation if they were to axe so many trees,” he added.

Badrinath is afraid that the BBMP is planning to fell more trees than the numbers it quotes. “They’re toppling trees in installments to sidestep the public consultation process. We want them to conduct a tree census,” he added.

Residents also believe underpasses at the junction are not going to solve the traffic woes. “We need to look at a long-term solution,” Badrinath said.

Meanwhile, BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forest MK Cholarajappa has revealed that the chief engineer called him on Friday to seek permission to saw off six trees that stand in the way of the project. “I’ve asked for a letter and we’ll look into it,” he added.

Cholarajappa said he took charge recently and is unaware of the trees felled for the project in the past.

BBMP’s chief engineer-road infrastructure projects KT Nagaraj said the process to acquire land and utility shifting has begun. “HAL and ISRO have given us land. It will take six months to complete the task,” he added.

“This being a major corridor where traffic cannot be diverted, we’ve to complete the work in phases. Each underpass is built at a cost of Rs 20 crore,” Nagaraj said.

The chief engineer insisted that no trees have been felled for the project. The proposed signal-free corridor will see three underpasses at Suranjan Das Junction, Wind Tunnel Junction and Kundanahalli.