BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has permitted the felling of 2,518 trees -- 1,988 by Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited for its suburban rail project and 530 for expansion of Air Force Command Hospital -- in the city.
KRIDE and the hospital should cut trees in compliance with the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, with Rules of 1977 and also by adhering to the conditions imposed by the BBMP tree officer and the court, including compensatory afforestation, it said. A division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice MI Arun passed the order on interlocutory applications on cutting trees for both projects.
‘Plant 10 saplings for each tree felled’
The Karnataka high court noted that against each tree to be felled, ten saplings should be planted. Thus, for felling 530 trees, the hospital should plant 5,380 trees. In its application before the court, the hospital, which is under the Ministry of Defence, stated that it proposed to construct a modern 800-bed hospital complex at Ulsoor.
Rail project
K-RIDE has to translocate and remove trees as per the tree officer’s order for construction of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) of Corridor 4, from Ambedkarnagar to Channasandra railway station (Block-1) and Channasandra railway station to Muddenahalli Line Cross, Bengaluru (Block-2). A committee of experts found that 528 trees, including 226 in Block 2, were illegally felled.
Referring to illegal felling of trees, the court said an additional condition has been imposed on K-RIDE that it should plant 5,000 more saplings for the trees permitted to be felled. Further, the FIR filed against illegal felling of trees should be taken to its logical end, the court said.