Karnataka: Campaign against Tree Act amendment from today

A mass campaign is being launched from Saturday against the state government’s move to amend the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976.

BENGALURU: A mass campaign is being launched from Saturday against the state government’s move to amend the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, and include more and more tree species under the felling list.

Environmentalists, eco groups, green activists and citizens are protesting this major amendment which they say will destroy the tree cover of cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru.Appealing to the Karnataka Chief Justice, former Justice of Bombay High Court M F Saldanha said the Karnataka High Court should intervene in the matter in the interest of the public. He added, “As it is, Bengaluru has been losing its green cover 20 per cent annually and is in a critical condition now. This is a clandestine and dishonest amendment that is sought to be pushed through which will turn the garden city into a treeless barren desert.”

Urban Conservationist and Tree Committee member Vijay Nishanth said the public campaign -- Save Trees and Protest KTP amendment -- is being launched at Town Hall on Saturday. “We have also requested people to write to (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi to stop this amendment by sending a mail or writing a letter at office@rahulgandhi.in or #10, Janpath, New Delhi-110001,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Environment Support Group is launching a workshop -- How to protect trees from needless felling in Bengaluru -- on Saturday. Eminent foresters, bird conservationists, citizen scientists and urban sociologists will speak about the Act, about ways to mobilize collectively to stop needless felling and how to rebuild greenery in Bengaluru.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com