Coimbatore: ‘Save Race Course’, a petition launched by a group of residents and environmentalists on change.org, has amassed 2,500 supporters in 24 hours.
The group wants the city corporation to stop the Smart City project being taken up in the area, share the project plan with the public and form a consensus, before going ahead.
The e-petition was launched after 70 trees were removed for the project and Thomas Park, which had some rare shrubs, was razed to the ground, said R Mohammed Saleem, president of the Environment Conservation Group. “They also removed three traffic islands — opposite KG Hospital, Thomas Park and one diagonally opposite KG Theatre. Children’s playground and park at the entrance of West Club Road was also removed,” he said.