Tree-hugging protest against BMRCL

Tree-hugging protest against BMRCL

Staff Reporter
— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Making a point: Members of Greenpeace and Yuva Chetana at a silent protest in Bangaloreon Thursday.
Bangalore: To protest tree felling by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) for the Metro project, activists of Kadina Mitra, an environmental organisation, hugged trees on Thursday and staged a silent protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on M.G. Road.

The protesters hugged trees for a while at Gandhi Park and urged the BMRCL authorities not to cut trees inside the Lalbagh Botanical Garden and other parks in the city.

“Cutting trees inside Lalbagh is an undemocratic move. The Opposition parties have failed to protest against this move and, hence, we decided to hold such protests,” Nandidurga Balugowda, founder of Kadina Mitra, said.

He said BMRCL had already axed a large number of trees at several places, including inside Lalbagh. Kadina Mitra activists would perform “urulu seve” and form a human chain to protests against tree felling in Bangalore. The activists would also take out a bicycle rally to create awareness among the people against tree felling, he said.