The list of these areas, categorised under various sectors such as transportation (tailpipe emission, and road dust), construction and demolition, diesel generator sets, municipal solid waste, and domestic, commercial, and industrial fuel consumption, has been handed over to the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) for spot identification and taking up plantation activities.
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The data showed that in the given period the Tree Expert Committee (TEC) gave green signal to remove nearly 72% of the total trees that were proposed to be felled. While permission was sought by various agencies to remove 16,509 trees, 11,820 faced the axe and a little over 2,000 were translocated.
Experts cite multiple reasons for the rise in temperature in the tech capital, including the impact of El Niño, the heat-island effect resulting from diminishing green cover and encroachments on water bodies, concretisation, and glass facade buildings.
“The trees have started drying out and two are almost dead already. There are around 12 trees on Gandhi Bazaar Main Road that had started wilting due to the whitetopping work as the engineer had poured chemicals on the roots, severely damaging them. They were also cut at multiple points during the construction,” said Guru Prasad, a resident of the area.
More often than not, these departments are not adequately staffed, leading to long periods of pendency. Environment-related cases require intensive investigation, but the shortage of manpower and other resources leads to many unresolved cases and a slow disposal rate. Experts opine the solution is to strengthen these departments by filling up vacancies.
Out of the 67 trees proposed to be felled for construction of the flyover, the Palike removed nine trees on December 1. The rest of the trees standing in the project area were also to be chopped on the same day. However, a special order issued by the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), BBMP, brought the work to a screeching halt.
In response to an RTI application filed in April regarding a huge area on the campus cordoned off by solid metal fencing, the public information officer of the institute stated that while a UG complex is scheduled to be constructed in the fenced area, no trees are planned to be cut for the project. Another RTI was filed in July this year regarding information on plans to construct new buildings and the renovation/modification of existing buildings on the campus.
The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) had sought permission for the clearance of a few trees standing in the MG Railway Colony area for the construction of railway quarters a couple of months ago. A public notice regarding the same was put up by BBMP, following which a field forest officer conducted a spot inspection.
They said the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project is undoubtedly a significant step towards improving the city’s transport infrastructure but it is crucial to strike a balance between development and environmental conservation.