Hoarding lobby thriving on Airport Road

Hoarding lobby thriving on Airport Road
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Four healthy trees were cut badly in order to make way for a Wrangler hoarding to be visible on Airport Road.

This was a major dent to the tree cover on the Airport Road, which was noticed six months ago, when hoarding lobby damaged adult trees on the same road.

“After a hue and cry was raised over it, the instances of these cutting came down. But now, they are back at what they do best, destroying anything that comes in way of clear viewing of hoardings,” said Rohan D’Souza, member Hasiru Usiru.

“We strongly condemn this kind of action by the hoarding owners which is destroying trees. These actions which clearly indicate their intentions and priorities, of making profit at any cost, is highly deplorable,” he said.

“We also criticise the inaction of The Tree Officer of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) in these cases. The earlier cases of trees being cut for hoardings on Airport Road, were brought to his notice. In spite of that, he has not taken any action,” he added.

He also pointed out that instead of afforestation programmes, which are nothing but an ‘eye wash’, BMP should concentrate on preserving trees in the City.

When contacted, BMP Tree Officer Udapudi D Krishna said that the BMP would inspect the area. “We will book a case against the violators,” he said.