On October 17, the forest cell of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) received two proposals from the South Western Railway (SWR) and Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) seeking permission to fell 989 trees. The office of the deputy conservator of forest (BBMP) has requested the citizens to file their objections, comments and suggestions regarding the projects for which the trees are proposed to be felled by October 27.
The SWR will carry out the redevelopment work at Yeshwanthapura railway station. In its application to the BBMP forest cell, the railway body has sought nod to clear 253 trees that stand in the way of the project. “The trees are standing within the project premises for re-development and construction works at Yeshwanthapura railway station,” the application by SWR said.
The KRDCL, meanwhile, has sought the clearance of 736 trees for the improvement and widening of the road between Gunjur and Belathoor bridge. “The trees are standing along the stretch of 5.680 km from Gunjur to Belathoor bridge,” its application read.
Vinod Jacob, general manager of the NGO Namma Bengaluru Foundation, said, “These notices are being issued by the BBMP but there is no proper public consultation or proper assessment of the project on the spot. There has to be a detailed plan on how you can protect the trees and also transparency on the process. We are not against infrastructure development, but need a scientific and holistic approach to protect the green cover and environment of the city.”
“The recent climate crisis like rains and floods are warning signs of climate change in the city. Also, there is no proper information on the afforestation projects taken up by the forest department to offset the loss from felling trees,” Jacob added.
Environmental activist Dattatraya T Devare said, “Road widening projects which consume trees must be reconsidered. If public transport improves, the pressure on the road will come down.”
On August 30 this year, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation wrote to the BBMP’s forest cell regarding the unplanned felling of trees and lack of clarity in the reasons given by the authorities for their removal. “The BBMP has issued around seven public notices for felling of trees in various parts of Bengaluru for projects in September 2022. It has been observed that these public notices are prepared very casually and released. The office of the BBMP forest department is not conducting a thorough assessment before publishing these notices,” the letter said.
“Several projects are planned with a Detailed Project Report (DPR), but tree cutting is never taken into consideration during the planning period and shared in the DPR. Sometimes the information provided is misleading too. For eg: Public Notice DCF/PR/1095/2022-23 dated 16.09.2022 states that the trees are close to the Storm water drain near Radha Krishna Temple, but when an inspection was done the location was at least 1 km away from the location published in the public notice,” it added. Jacob said the BBMP is yet to respond to the letter.
Deputy conservator of forest (BBMP) Sareena Sikkaligar did not respond to calls.
