BBMP tree chopping on Ballari Road draws ire

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Bengaluru citizens took to social media to express their anger at the chopping of trees on Ballari Road close to Palace Grounds by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahana g ara Palike (BBMP).

The BBMP had been acting on a Karnataka High Court order that allowed the axing of some 58 trees for the purpose of road widening. After this, the plan is to widen the two-lane street adjacent to Palace Road to a three-lane street.

City-based conservationist Vijay Nishant blamed Union Home Minister’s visit for the civic body going through with the plan to axe the trees in an expeditious manner. “Tree cutting from Mekhri Circle to Kaveri. Welcome @AmitShah ji. This is how the Karnataka government wanted to welcome you few years back. @narendramodi ji appreciated the conservation effort. They did not have the patience to hold till your presence,” he said.

“Tree cutting from Mekhri Circle to Kaveri Circle. Bengaluru will never forget this tree cutting,” he tweeted. Independent journalist Anil Budur Lulla alleged that the BBMP had begun the tree chopping surreptitiously at night to avoid scrutiny.

“In a midnight operation, #BBMP contractors are cutting trees on Palace Road in #Bangalore. At least 30 full-grown trees have been cut opposite Sandur House with the help of JCB’s, cranes & axes. Road from Mehkri underpass towards BDA closed,” he tweeted. The proposal was one of many to ease traffic on the Mekhri Circle to Cauvery Theatre Junction stretch.

The BBMP has written to a Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Karnataka Forest Department, to grant permission to translocate, transplant, or remove these trees, eventually gaining permission to chop them.