Police set to chop 13 big trees

Police set to chop 13 big trees
The CID headquarters on Palace Road is felling mango, neem and rain trees to make room for a detective training centre
Manasi Paresh Kumar bmfeedback@indiatimes.com


The police department will soon cut 13 trees to clear the way for a huge, 20,000 sq ft building at Carlton House.
The BBMP chopped down more than 60 trees to widen Palace Road three years ago, and it is now the turn of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to deprive the neighbourhood of its sylvan beauty.
The 7.9-acre CID headquarters, perhaps the greenest police premises in the city, will sacrifice 13 huge trees, including a six-year-old sandalwood tree, for a new detective training centre. The training centre is being funded by the Centre, which has already released the first instalment of Rs 5 crore.
“The building will have four levels. CID officers will be trained to crack, among other things, economic offences. They will acquire forensic expertise,” said Charan Reddy, Deputy IGP, CID.
The architecture will match the building next to it, which currently houses the cyber crime department. The BBMP permission, a copy of which is with Bangalore Mirror, shows that the sandalwood tree will be felled by the forest department. Mango, gulmohar, neem, peepul and rain trees will also face the axe. “We have discussed it with many architects; we have no choice but to cut it down,” said Reddy.
Not everyone is convinced though. V V Bhaskar, former Director General of Police, who gave Carlton House the rare distinction of having a two-acre coffee plantation, believes the trees can be saved.
“It is very sad, because any tree that is cut down will affect the environment. They can plan the architecture around the trees. I hope Ajai Kumar Singh (IGP) or Dr Guruprasad (DG,CID) will intervene and stop this,” he said.
Ironically, the CID headquarters is among the top winners of the horticulture department awards during the annual Independence Day and Republic Day competitions.