Slogan war against tree felling

Slogan war against tree felling
An artist draws attention to depleting green cover on Sampige Road by painting slogans
Deepthi.M R @timesgroup.com


For Pallavi Chender it doesn't matter which part of the town a tree is being cut. She is there to save it. On Saturday, this 32-year-old artist from Indira Nagar heard that trees would be felled to widen Sampige Road in Malleshwaram. She rushed to the spot with some paint and white linen cloth, and started painting slogans to save the trees. Soon about 50 passers-by gathered around her to join her and hear her out.
After Mantri Square mall was built on Sampige Road, traffic jams have become the order of the day. Shoppers conveniently park their vehicles on this road causing further problems. Road widening seems to be a matter of time.
Rameshan K R from Seshadripuram, said, "I was going to Mantri Square and saw this bunch of people who were sitting on the footpath in front of the mall and were painting posters. I went and asked them what they were up to. We then realised how I could help in saving our ecology."
"One constable came and told me that if he was not wearing the uniform, he would be painting these banners," Pallavi said.
When Bangalore Mirror asked BBMP Additional Commissioner (West) V P Ikkeri if the trees on Sampige Road would be felled, he confirmed that Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike had decided to widen the road and it was "inevitable" for trees to be felled. There are over 200 trees per kilometer. He said: "It is an inevitable project as traffic is heavy here.”