<p class="title">A whopping 1,092 trees are likely to be felled for the proposed four-laning of seven-kilometre PWD road from Seethanadi to Brahmavar Road (Brahmavar to Hebri) in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sheer number of trees to be axed for the proposed road widening has generated widespread resentment among environmentalists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We will file objections against the felling of trees and demand a joint survey to save a few trees from being axed,”said environmentalist Premananda Kalmadi. Local panchayats also should raise their voice against such large-scale felling of trees, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Government should set up a state-level panel of experts to study the need for felling trees and incorporate changes in the proposal to protect the trees,” Kalmadi urged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There is no technology to relocate all the trees felled during the widening of road. He recollected that due to their efforts they were able to save 20 trees from being chopped during the construction of KSRTC bus stand in Udupi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">National Environment Care Foundation general secretary H Shashidhar Shetty said the trees were being felled indiscriminately despite growing awareness about the region’s vulnerability to soil erosion and erratic weather<br />patterns.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Range Forest Officer Clifford Lobo said the possibility of translocating a few trees can be looked into during the public hearing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ganesh, a resident of Arooru, said that hundreds of trees had already been lost for widening Hejamady-Baindoor (NH-66) stretch and Malpe-Theerthahalli (NH-169A) road. “Let us not invite a catastrophe similar to those witnessed in Madikeri and Kerala,” he<br />said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The forest department has convened a public hearing on the road-widening project at the office of range forest officer, Udupi, RFO office on December 30 (3 pm). Karnataka Tree Preservation Act provides for public hearing if more than 50 trees are to be felled.</p>
<p class="title">A whopping 1,092 trees are likely to be felled for the proposed four-laning of seven-kilometre PWD road from Seethanadi to Brahmavar Road (Brahmavar to Hebri) in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sheer number of trees to be axed for the proposed road widening has generated widespread resentment among environmentalists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We will file objections against the felling of trees and demand a joint survey to save a few trees from being axed,”said environmentalist Premananda Kalmadi. Local panchayats also should raise their voice against such large-scale felling of trees, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Government should set up a state-level panel of experts to study the need for felling trees and incorporate changes in the proposal to protect the trees,” Kalmadi urged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There is no technology to relocate all the trees felled during the widening of road. He recollected that due to their efforts they were able to save 20 trees from being chopped during the construction of KSRTC bus stand in Udupi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">National Environment Care Foundation general secretary H Shashidhar Shetty said the trees were being felled indiscriminately despite growing awareness about the region’s vulnerability to soil erosion and erratic weather<br />patterns.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Range Forest Officer Clifford Lobo said the possibility of translocating a few trees can be looked into during the public hearing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ganesh, a resident of Arooru, said that hundreds of trees had already been lost for widening Hejamady-Baindoor (NH-66) stretch and Malpe-Theerthahalli (NH-169A) road. “Let us not invite a catastrophe similar to those witnessed in Madikeri and Kerala,” he<br />said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The forest department has convened a public hearing on the road-widening project at the office of range forest officer, Udupi, RFO office on December 30 (3 pm). Karnataka Tree Preservation Act provides for public hearing if more than 50 trees are to be felled.</p>
