BENGALURU: Residents of an apartment block, overlooking the Turahalli forest, woke up to a rude shock on Saturday morning when they found an earth mover entering the protected area. Scared that the famous lung space was on the path to destruction, they made frantic calls to the forest department for help.
“Our apartment is next to the forest and we can look into the area from our homes. In the morning, we saw an earth-mover entering the forest and clearing a pathway. This left us horrified. There are so many instances of lakes being encroached and we don’t want this for Turahalli so we called up the forest department,” said Shweta Tiwari, a resident of Sobha Forest View.
However, their fears were quickly put to rest by the department, which clarified, albeit orally, that the vehicle belonged to them and had been sent there to make a peripheral road for inspection of the forest area and for security measures to be deployed on site. “The moment we heard it was sent by the department, we heaved a sigh of relief. However, we have asked them to confirm the same in writing, which has not yet happened,” said Pooja S, another resident.
In the recent past, there was a fire in the forest, which has left residents around the area suspicious of any out of the ordinary activity. “We were scared if someone was upto some mischief again. The recent forest fire gave us shivers and we were really scared on Saturday as well. There are many animals in the forest and a fire is a threat to their lives,” said R Ram, another resident.
Explaining the work being carried out, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Punati Sridhar said, “We are clearing the pathways to make a peripheral boundary for inspection and to beef up security in the forest. We are clearing the pathway without cutting down the trees. The machine only removed weeds. This is being done in most of the forests. The residents need not worry. It is being done for the benefit of the forest.”
Another forest official appreciated the prompt action by the residents and said, “It is good to see how the people are so connected with this forest. Even though there was no mishap, they thought of alerting us. This is how the citizens and department should work together.”