The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has promised to initiate steps to launch a green campaign and alternative tree-planting plan to compensate for the number of trees that will be axed down for the Kochi Metro Rail Project.
Accordingly, the KMRL will soon start planting saplings on the 10 areas identified in the city. But, the environmentalists point out that certain areas in the city like MG Road will lose its green cover forever and urged the KMRL to start the replanting campaign as early as possible. “The MG Road is one of the major roads in the city with a great history and one of the major shopping spot of Kochiites. The green cover, with trees as old as the history of the road, will be lost completely for the Kochi Metro Rail Project,” said former Mayor and Kochi Corporation Town Planning Committee chairman K J Sohan.
Meanwhile, the KMRL authorities are planning to launch the green campaign on Sahodaran Ayyappan Road by January. The agency has already submitted an application to the Kochi Corporation seeking permission for the campaign.
“The efforts of the KMRL and other agencies concerned are to carry out the Kochi Metro Rail work without much impact on the environment. That is why the authorities have stated that they will plant 10 trees instead of one that will be axed,” the KMRL officials stated earlier. The KMRL has decided to make about three lakh tree guards. “The KMRL had earlier launched similar tree planting campaigns at the HMT land near Kalamassery. But, the saplings died down without proper care. Since the city is losing one of its major green covers, the agency should seriously think of giving assurance,” said a top corporation official.
Meanwhile, the KMRL is planning to rope in an agency to ensure that all the seedlings are properly nurtured.