15 trees felled on Mysore Road

15 trees felled on Mysore Road

Staff Reporter
It is to make way for the Namma Metro Project
— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

IN THE NAME OF DEVELOPMENT: A number of trees were chopped next to BHEL Compound on Mysore Road in Bangalore on Sunday.
BANGALORE: As many as 159 trees will be sacrificed on Mysore Road for the Namma Metro Project being implemented by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited. As of Sunday evening, the tree-cutting spree had claimed 15 trees near Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) compound.

Work on Reach 2 — between Magadi Road and Mysore Road Terminal — will result in 159 trees being cut, on a stretch of five kilometres. “Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has sanctioned this tree-felling,” said Venkateshappa, Tree Officer, BBMP (Bangalore South).

The trees include various species such as jacaranda, and some ornamental ones. The trees are nearly 25 years old, on an average.

Protest
Even as trees were being felled on Mysore Road, Hasiru Usiru, a citizen’s initiative, formed a human chain in protest against tree-cutting on R.V. Road, near Nanda Talkies in Jayanagar. Members of the group said that 323 trees will be destroyed as a result of the Metro construction there.

Vinay Sreenivasan, member of Hasiru Usiru, says, “The continued protest on April 19 is to make sure we reclaim Nanda Talkies Road from the Metro.”

The protestors also said, “When BMRCL sought clearance, it claimed that trees on Nanda Talkies Road will only be pruned, not cut.”

They alleged that the BBMP Tree Officer confirmed that the tree-cutting in Lalbagh was not approved. “If this can happen to trees in Lalbagh, you can imagine what this means to trees across the city,” they said.