BENGALURU : In a series of tweets in which she got the Metro line in question wrong, Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi has charged Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) of not being honest about the actual number of trees being cut for its project, and demanded greater transparency.
An emotional BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez countered it, and called for an end to the spread of false news about the organisation.
Ravi shot to prominence after she was arrested for allegedly being the key conspirator in the dissemination of an online toolkit on the farmers’ protest, which was later shared by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
In a tweet on Sunday -- in which Ravi erroneously refers to Outer Ring Road Line (Phase 2A) as Airport Line -- Ravi said nearly 800 trees would be chopped between Central Silk Board and Kadubeesanahalli. Both these stations figure on the ORR Line.
“On a field visit, it was confirmed that 15 trees along the lake will also be cut, they didn’t put this out to the public in their docs,” her tweet added.
Her tweets spoke of 774 objections received from the public, and charged BMRCL of not paying heed to them.
Compensatory afforestoration is another “greenwashing tactic”, she alleged. Claiming that 4,777 trees would be cut, she demanded a single notice on it, and information on the environmental and social impact on citizens.
Parwez said the trees cut or transplanted by BMRCL were supervised by an Expert Committee constituted by the High Court.
“How will we furnish wrong information to the HC? We will be behind bars if we do so,” he said.
“We are a completely transparent organisation. The information being spread against us is completely wrong and we urge individuals to desist from doing so. We are forced to remove the trees only for the sake of Bengaluru. Every tree that is being cut is substituted for by 10 trees, and we have planted 10,000 trees so far. Another 60,000 trees will be planted in future,” the MD said.