Only 188 trees will be felled, says BMRCL

Only 188 trees will be felled, says BMRCL

Staff Reporter
BANGALORE: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Tuesday submitted to the High Court that it would fell 188 trees from R.V. Road to Vasavi Samudaya Bhavan (under Reach-R4) for the metro project.

This is apart from pruning 203 trees on the stretch.

BMRCL made this submission when the court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by Environment Support Group (ESG), Leo Saldanha and Hasiru Usiru against felling of trees in Lal Bagh and Lakshman Rao parks and the park space adjacent to K.R. Road.

The petitioners contended that BMRCL had gone ahead with felling of trees in and around Lal Bagh without obtaining permission under the Town and Country Planning Act.

Besides, the Comprehensive Development Programme (CDP) drawn up by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had not declassified part of Lal Bagh for the metro project.

A Division Bench, comprising Justice N.K. Patil and Justice V. Jagannathan, which heard the petition, asked both the State Government and BMRCL to file affidavits detailing the exact number of trees that would be cut in and around Lal Bagh, including R.V. Road and Nanda Talkies Road.

The Bench ordered issue of notices to several respondents and adjourned the case to May 21.