Bengaluru: Century-old trees axed for guesthouse

Bengaluru: Pro-green activists in the city protested in front of the historical Kumara Krupa guesthouse, to express outrage over cutting of century-old trees on the premises. The ‘tree massacre’ was executed three days ago by a contractor, who wanted to make way for a guesthouse.

The Public Works Department has begun constructing guest rooms on the Kumara Krupa Guesthouse premises and about 37 trees of different native species, including those believed to have been planted in the 1920s, have been axed.

The protesters alleged that no permission was taken by the concerned authorities and no public hearing was conducted before chopping down the trees. Though the officials from the PWD Department claimed to have obtained permission from the BBMP’s Forest Cell, the protesters are not ready to buy this theory. “It’s important that any government agency, before clearing a large chunk of tree cover, conduct a public consultation involving experts and residents who live around the area in order to take everybody’s consent. It’s a clear case of misleading the general public and it’s disheartening to see old trees being uprooted. The government could have planned the construction in such a way that the trees could have been saved,” said Mr Umapathi S, President of Right To Information Federation, Bengaluru.

Mr Umapati and other protesters lodged a complaint against the builders and the officials of PWD department at the High Grounds Police Station. “A similar complaint will be lodged with the Forest Department. With major infrastructure projects taking up a large chunk of green space, Bengaluru cannot afford to lose any more trees. The tree massacre was uncalled for. It’s also evident that the government did not bother to hold the public hearing as it feared opposition from the general public. Unless the guilty are punished it would be difficult to safeguard trees on city campuses,” he concluded.