Bengaluru: 46 trees axed for signal free corridor

Bengaluru: Bengaluru, already gasping for lung space, is now enraged at the chopping of 46 trees on Old Airport Road to pave way for the ambitious signal-free corridor project.  

All efforts to get help from civic authorities have gone in vain and one of the residents, who requested anonymity, complained that chief engineer Prahlad’s reply to their concerns was insensitive.

“No public consultation was held before the trees were chopped. Most of the trees were 70-80 years old and I wonder whether we can afforest the city the way we used to do it earlier,” said Mr Aravind, a resident of Vinayak Nagar.

Sounding exasperated at the inaction of civic authorities, he said that after the meeting with officials did not yield results, he complained to the Divisional Forest Officer.

As per a High Court order, a tree committee must be referred to if the project requires chopping down of more than 50 trees. 

But there was no public consultation before the trees were cut on Old Airport Road, the residents complained. To the astonishment of many, there is no tree committee for the Old Airport Road, where the trees were brought down.

“How is it possible that in every project, the number of trees that are chopped is under 50? Civic authorities are using the blocking system. They split the project and claim that trees under 50 have been cut, to slip under the high court ruling, when the ground reality is different,” tree doctor Vijay Nishanth said.  

Mr Nishanth is, however, determined to stop the civic authorities from chopping down another 60 trees that have been marked. BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad denied the charges, saying, “A tree committee already exists and we are following whatever is in the Act. If a situation comes where more than 50 trees have to be cut down, we will consult the committee.”