BENGALURU: In view of the assurance given by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to plant 4,000 trees/saplings, as a part of compensatory afforestation, the Karnataka High Court permitted it to cut and translocate around 348 trees which are listed in the submitted memorandum.
A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order, after the court was informed that the BMRCL has proposed to plant 4,000 trees, as against the original plan to plant 3,480 trees (1:10 ratio - 10 plants for cutting of one tree). The trees will be planted at the Old Military Dairy Farm at Hebbal.
The court directed the Tree Officer and DCF, Bengaluru Urban District, to specify the number of trees to be planted in each category out of 33 varieties of plants, saying it is their duty to propose each category of saplings to be planted.
Neither BMRCL nor the Tree Officer specified the number of trees in each category, in the reports submitted to the court. Terming it very vague, the court directed them to specify the same.The court was hearing a PIL filed by Dattatreya T Devare and one other.