Bengaluru: Tree huggers protest against TenderSure on Nrupathunga Road

Bengaluru: Members of various environmental groups on Friday demanded that the TenderSURE project on Nrupathunga Road should be stopped immediately and participated in a ‘chipko’ movement as a mark of protest against the BBMP, which is planning to bring down 18 trees as part of the project.

Alleging that the multi-million project was ecologically harmful and not pedestrian-friendly, Vinay Sreenivasa of Hasiru Usiru, said, “The TenderSURE was dubbed as a pedestrian-friendly project, but the whole purpose of building footpaths is defeated if the pedestrian pathways do not have shade. The design of the project, which is to lay huge concrete ducts below footpaths, will damage the roots of existing trees and it is impossible to plant new trees since there is no space for the roots to grow. There is no point in spending crores on concrete footpaths built at the cost of trees.”

He said that the state government has proposed to lay 50 more roads on the lines of TenderSURE and many more trees could be cut for the same purpose. “The trees do not disturb traffic in any way, and they are neither dead nor diseased. The sanction given to fell these trees is illegal,” he urged. Mr Sreenivasa suggested that the BBMP call for a public review of the project and gather citizens’ opinion. The activists hugged the 18 trees identified for felling and put up banners on each tree requesting the BBMP officials not to kill the trees.