BBMP to face contempt if tree census doesn't begin

The BBMP will face contempt of court action if it fails to start a census of trees in Bengaluru within two weeks, the high court has warned.

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur gave the warning on Wednesday while hearing a PIL petition filed by Dattatreya T Devare and the Bangalore Environment Trust against the cutting of trees for development works.

The chief justice took exception to the civic body's failure to start the tree census as ordered by the court on June 24, 2019. The Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, mandates the BBMP to conduct a tree census but the civic body has clearly failed to do its duty, the court noted.

"The BBMP's contention is that it has engaged the Institute of Wood Science and Technology to conduct the tree census. It has also written a letter to the state government, seeking exemption under the KTTP Act, 1999, for awarding a tender of Rs 4 crore for the tree census," he said.

"Since the state government is also one of the respondents in the matter, it should take steps to initiate a tree census in the state as well. The state and the BBMP have not taken serious action on the directions of this court. So, the authorities shall face the music and contempt (of court action) will be initiated," Justice Oka warned.

He continued: "I have observed that the BBMP will not take any action unless the court warns it of contempt action. Because of this attitude of the authority, Bengaluru has lost 75% of the green belt."

The court directed both the state government and the BBMP to submit a list of the officers concerned along with their designation who failed to start the tree census. The court also directed an expert committee on tree conservation that it had constituted earlier to submit information on the facilities provided by the government and the details of the meetings held with the government.