BENGALURU: The first ever public consultation, relating to axing of trees by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), for the phase 2 underground project, was held by the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) at Bannerghatta road on Friday.
Also present were the Chief Engineer and Environment Engineer of the BMRCL. Two citizen groups, the Environment Support Group and Knights for Queen, along with members of the All Saint’s Church and many more concerned citizens came together to discuss options for the 600 plus trees that could be chopped down to make way for the project.
However, BMRCL now has to put the project on hold as the proposal did not go down well with citizens. Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group said in the meeting that the High Court of Karnataka had directed the State Government and the BDA to comply with procedures from the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act,1961. Harini Raghavan from Knights for Queen mentioned that an expert committee should be made which would decide how many trees would be cut.
Members of the Church questioned how the BMRCL could state that only 40 trees would be axed within the Church premises when they had not even visited the spot. However, even though the meeting was premature, many citizens were delighted about the chance given to voice their views. Anu Gummaraju, a resident of Bannerghatta said, “This was a fruitful meeting. The officials had a positive attitude and listened to all queries and said that they will get back to us soon.”
At the meeting, the DCF stated that he would have a discussion with the Tree Authority soon and will further have a meeting with the public on the same, in three to four days.