JOIN USWith 206 trees set to be felled and 604 to be "affected" to make way for Namma Metro’s Gottigere-Nagawara line and the depot at Kothnur, BBMP forest officials are planning to save nearly 200 of them through translocation.
The 21.25-km North-South corridor in phase-2 is a crucial stretch not only for providing an option for easy commute between two ends of the city, but also for the Metro link to Kempegowda International Airport (phase-2B).
Though the elevated stretch is only seven kilometres long, 438 trees will be cut or trimmed to make space for the stretch. The 13.8-km underground section will claim 252 trees, most of them for the stations, as per the Environment Impact Assessment report for the project. Another 120 trees will be axed for the proposed depot on 33 acres in Kothnur, says the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
While the BMRCL has proposed translocating 65 trees at a total cost of Rs 2 lakh, sources in BBMP said Metro authorities have agreed to a plan to transplant about 180 trees. “This is still in the planning stage. We are yet to get clearance from top officials,” sources said.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which prepared the detailed project report in 2011, had suggested an alignment which affects a small number of existing properties and less green cover.
“The station area will be restricted as per the minimum land requirement. The alignment is designed in such a way that most of the open lands, service roads and road medians will be utilised rather than structures. Proper planning of underground alignment will also reduce any major property loss,” says the report.
The BMRCL has chalked out a detailed project for establishing green cover with 2,000 trees at a cost of Rs 22 lakh to compensate for the trees cut. This includes a 7.5-km green belt under the elevated section from Gottigere to Dairy Circle.
BMRCL managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said the tenders for the work on the Rs 11,014-crore line are being evaluated by the European Investment Bank. “We will meet the 2020 deadline set for the project,” he said.
Nearly one lakh vehicles, about 35% of them two-wheelers, ply daily on the roads in this stretch at present.
Around 20% of this number are expected to go off the roads once the line is commissioned. Besides providing a faster, reliable and safe mode of transportation, the Gottigere-Nagawara line is expected to save 19.000 litres of petrol and 9,000 litres of diesel per day.