No tree-felling without nod from authority

No tree-felling without nod from authority
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The high court on Thursday asked BMRC not to cut or remove any tree in Lalbagh area without obtaining permission from the tree officer or the tree authority under the BBMP.
A vacation division Bench headed by Justice N K Patil gave this direction before adjourning hearing on PIL related to tree-felling on R V Road stretch of the Metro project. The PIL also challenged grant of land inside Lalbagh Botanical Garden for a Metro station.
Appearing on behalf of the government and BMRC, advocate general Udaya Holla said the project belongs to the state and all required applications have been filed, seeking permission from the tree authority to cut trees wherever necessary. He said trees will be felled whenever permission is granted. “One cannot oppose every project under the notion of ‘green’. We will not cut any trees without getting permission,” he told the court.
“This is the fifth round of litigation on the same project. A division Bench of this court has already reserved its verdict on the main petition. The contention of the petitioners that KTCP Act has not been followed is inapplicable in this case. A Metro station is also a part of an alignment,” Holla told the court.