Bengaluru: It has been said that over 1,200 trees have been cut by the Bangalore Metro Rail Transport Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) for the Phase 2 construction and all was done without public consultation or obtaining permission from the Expert Committee to monitor tree felling.
As per the records available from BMRCL, 1,253 trees have been cut for Phase 2. This excludes the K.R. Puram and Airport routes. The R.V. Road to Bommasandra route spans across 72 km.
“Till the end of July, construction work has begun along a 68-km stretch for the Yellow Line and the trees located along this stretch have been cut. Also the data shows that 599 trees have been cut between R.V. Road and Bommasandra and an additional 269 trees in HSR Layout,” BMRCL sources told Deccan Chronicle.
The sources also confirm that remaining 385 trees have been cut for the Gottigere-Nagawara line or the Red Line. In addition, the BMRCL has identified 1,312 trees along the Gottigere-Nagawara line, which it intends to chop. However, BMRCL claims that the agency has ensured that 2,530 saplings were planted on the city outskirts to compensate for the loss of the trees.
In recent days an environmental activist had filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court demanding action against the BBMP rule to not hold public consultation if the number of trees being felled is less than 50. The High Court had in July this year issued guidelines for BBMP to set up an expert committee to monitor the trees being cut for developmental projects.
