Save 8561 trees from being axed in Bengaluru!
UPDATE
1. On 5 February 2020, Fridays for future along with citizens of Bangalore participated created a Human Chain to protest against the cutting of trees.
2. On 6 February Some citizens met Deputy conservator of forest and asked him to intervene but DCF suggested that tree authority can only send recommendations and are under a lot of pressure to pass the order for clearing of trees.
3. On 14 February Children protested in their school and outside on Sarjapur road to talk about the felling of trees in the green heart campaign.
4. February about 35 citizens from Bangalore visited KRDCL office to deliver petition and talk to MD about the project. MD denied the need for EIA or public consultation for any road widening project. Over 30 RTI were filled by citizens on 14 February regarding the project.
5. Citizens did not receive any updates on the RTIs even after the one month of filing RTIs.
6. KRDCL has issued orders to fell the trees in Anekal Taluk as part of the project. The process would start on 8 July.
These are very difficult & unprecedented times. We never expected that a tiny virus like COVID-19 will bring life to a standstill for months. We are all still grappling with the effects of a less understood VIRUS and with even lesser understanding of how to combat it, and this is a ZOONOTIC DISEASE. One of the causes for repeated emergence of zoonotic diseases is due to wild animals’ habitat deprivation, the animals dead or alive interacting with HUMANS & hence such ZOONOTIC diseases spreading & mutating causing irreversible damages to humans & our way of life.
It is ironic that during COVID-19 pandemic, the Forest Department has given orders to clear trees, in spite of all requests by COURT to stay any such action, by issuing permission to fell them and widen roads. This is CONTEMPT of court by your department.
Bengaluru, our green cover is under threat once again.
8561 trees are proposed to be cut for a road-widening project, in order to decongest the tech corridor. Existing two-lane and four-lane roads will be converted into four-lane and six-lane ones on the stretch between Bannerghatta, Sarjapur, Mandur, Anekal and Whitefield. Some of these trees are over 80 years old and include peepal, banyan, tamarind and other species.
In just the past couple of years, air pollution has risen drastically in Bengaluru, with construction dust, garbage burning and the rise in private vehicles leading to more emissions. In the midst of this, the city's old trees are a natural buffer and their loss for development projects will lead to worsening impact of climate change, not to mention the health effects of air pollution.
This is what the project looks like in a nut-shell.
- 4 Projects
- Estimate 2000 + crore
- Cost per km - 8.44 crore
- Numbers of trees to be cut - 8561(according to official number, actual numbers may be higher)
- Lack of Transparency - No Detailed Project Report - Available in public domain
-- Number of public consultation done on the project - zero
-- Public consultation about tree cutting -
-- On December 24, members of trees authority came unprepared to answer citizen questions.
-- On 20 Jan 2020, order issued that jurisdiction of trees outside BBMP does not fall under Tree committee!
Bangalore has always been known as the Garden City. However, rampant development due to unplanned real estate and road widening projects, we are on the path to losing that tag. We are moving backwards, destroying our green cover for a concrete jungle even as other countries realise the true meaning of development without sidelining the environment. We cannot let this happen.
Sign this petition now.
Reference
https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/krdcl-proposes-to-fell-8561-trees-on-citys-outskirts/articleshow/73502165.cms
