Hasiru Usiru for Garden City

Hasiru Usiru for Garden City
DH News Service, Bangalore:
More than 1,000 residents took part in a walk to draw attention towards the need for better road and protection of green cover in the city.


“The government should not chop trees in the name of development,” said Shamala Rao, one of the participants in the walk.

Initiated by Hasiru Usiru, a non governmental organisation along with a conglomeration of various other city-based community organisations, the walk for better city took off from Lal Bagh and ended at Town Hall.

“I am happy that the citizens are being concerned and have addressed crucial issues like bad roads and loss of green cover in Bangalore. The public has decided to raise their voices through the walk,” said Dinesh Gundu Rao, Legislator, Gandhinagar constituency who flagged off the rally. Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, CIVIC and part of Hasiru Usiru said the event marks that citizens of Bangalore should be included in the rebuilding process of the city.

Namma Metro impact

With an objective to highlight the extensive damage caused due to road-widening and Metro projects the campaign for protection of green cover, Hasiru Usiru pointed out that the measures undertaken by the government to ease traffic congestion has in turn damaged the environment. The organisation enlightened the public about the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, according to which, for any developmental project to be taken forward, public opinion has to be sought. The Environmental Support Group (ESG) pointed out that large scale tree felling carried out for these developmental projects is outright violation of Karnataka Prevention of Trees Act. The Act clearly states huge number of tree should not be cut and re-plantation of trees is a must.

50,000 TREES FELLED

According to ESG Report, the city in recent times has lost around 50,000 trees, felled extensively for developmental activities. During the early 1990s, the city had less than 700,000 public vehicles plying on its roads daily. By the end of 2004, the number had crossed 2.1 million and in the last four years two million more cars, three-wheelers and two wheelers have been added to the city roads. On an average, around 1,500 new vehicles ply on the city roads daily.