Jayamahal road: Karnataka CM's fiat to urban secretary
CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed the urban development secretary to take action.
BENGALURU: Following the Environment Support Group (ESG) demand not to allow mass felling of trees until the procedures are in place, CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed the urban development secretary to take action.
The ESG had demanded that the state government should freeze its plan to cut trees till public review takes place. The mass tree cutting plan is in violation of the High Court order, ESG said.
The court directive says that the tree officer must ascertain if the BBMP has conformed with the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 (KTCPA, 1961), involving several public review and accountability procedures, prior to reviewing applications seeking felling of trees be it for road widening, Metro or any other infrastructure projects, as per the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976 (KPTA 1976).
In the case of Jayamahal road widening, it is obvious that the BBMP has not taken any steps to conform with various provisions of the KTCPA, 1961, which demands a series of public reviews. The Tree Officer should have rejected such applications requesting mass felling of trees as illegal, it said.
A “spot inspection” does not conform with the demands of careful appraisal made by the court. Yet, in clear contempt of the court, the tree officer is now in an unseemly rush to give permission to fell trees, it said.