CHENNAI: Nearly 100 trees, aged between 10 and 60 years that form a dense green canopy, long enjoyed by the residents and commuters along Sardar Patel Road in Adyar are being removed, as a 2.5 km four-lane stretch from IIT Madras to Chellammal College on GST Road is set to be converted into a six-lane one.
Officials of the State Highways department told TNIE most of the trees would be transplanted elsewhere, but did not specify how many would be transplanted or where. The `48-crore project aims to ease traffic congestion.
On Tuesday, TNIE spotted trees being uprooted, but no effort was being taken to transplant them.
Commuters who spoke to TNIE said the absence of shade along what was once a tree-lined stretch is immediately noticeable. Santhosh Loganathan, a regular user of the stretch and co-founder of Nagariyal, an urban research and action collective, pointed out the project is being taken up without public consultation.
“Even after widening, congestion will remain as there is a bottleneck after vehicles land from the bridge starting from Anna University and join the road before the L-bridge. There is no need to cut trees,” he said.
Speaking about a similar incident of felling trees two years ago when the road near CLRI at Madhya Kailash was expanded, he said the city is losing out on green cover, affecting pedestrians and motorists.
Kalvina Rajendran, a resident of Adyar said, “It is deeply disturbing to see the loss of tree cover since Cyclone Vardah in 2016. I have spent most of my life enjoying the breezy shade in the stretch near Gandhi Mandapam and Kotturpuram.”
Speaking to TNIE, an official from the State Highways department said most of the trees would be transplanted and that the project is being taken up after getting approval from the District Green Committee, a district-level body designed to protect existing trees, manage tree felling, and increase green cover. He added the Forest department would transplant the trees to wherever space is available.
Dr TD Babu, trustee of NGO Nizhal and a member of the District Green Committee, said while approval was given, the committee had asked for the retention of several important tree species such as Putranjiva, Veppalai, Ainthu Ezilai Palai and for increasing the number of trees to be transplanted.