Metro project not an excuse to cut trees, says citizen activist

As trees are being marked for felling or trimming to make way for Namma Metro’s Gottigere-Nagawara line in Phase 2, citizens and activists are questioning why trees should be touched at all when the wide road allows enough space for the Metro.

The Gottigere-Nagawara line, which runs in parallel to Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli line in Phase 1, will connect some of the key corridors which see traffic snarls everyday. Though citizens are elated at a new mode of transport providing a solution to their traffic woes, they are a little disturbed over the green cost the project demands.

One of them is Arun Prasad, a citizen activist and a resident of Wilson Garden who is distressed to see almost 245 trees on the Dairy Circle and Jayadeva Hospital  stretch red marked to go under the axe to make way for the Metro last week.

Prasad claims the Metro line on the stretch is possible even without axing a single tree. He said he has been doing his homework to prove his point and save the green cover and gives instances of other stretches where the green cover was not sacrificed for the Metro line. “I have taken notes of the Metro project on Magadi Road where the line was built on a much narrow stretch without axing the trees. The same goes with Indiranagar 100 Feet Road where the trees are wider, but they were not axed to make way for the Metro. The Dairy Circle stretch is in fact much broader. The Metro line here will be in middle of the road. I do not know why the trees need to be chopped," he said.

“My concern is the clearing of the green cover which is already shrinking in the city. Namma Metro is a landmark project and the unnecessary axing of trees must not mar its image. It must not be an excuse to cut the trees." Prasad told DH.

Prasad, who is also involved in other social causes, said when he discovered the markings on the trees, he realised the only green stretch around the locality would be cleared. Prasad is already involved in assessing the technicalities and other nuances of the Metro coming up on the stretch. He plans to write to BMRCL as well as the BBMP to stop the trees from being axed.

"The authorities will always come up with excuses that these are eucalyptus which can be cut without permission. But with the kind of green cover lost, every patch of green cover must be protected. There can be no alternative to a tree and I hope the authorities take note of it."

According to tree committee member Vijay Nishath, BMRCL should immediately take steps for compensating the green cover they are damaging. "Felling eucalyptus trees may not be a big damage. But BMRCL should plant saplings that they are compensating for every tree they are felling," he added.