Bengaluru: According to a report by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) thousands of trees were cut down for Namma Metro projects between 2021 and 2023.
According to BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests, 3,626 trees have been uprooted for phase-2, phase-2A and phase-2B projects of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
According to an official of the BBMP Forest Department, the demand has come from BMRCL and some trees have been brought under the category of scraping and relocation process after placing the request before the Tree Committee.
From 2021 to 2022, 72 trees have been retained and 856 trees have been shifted to different parts of the city and to the outskirts. 2,461 trees have been felled for Phase-II and Phase-2A projects of BMRCL. Similarly, from 2022 to January 2023, 36 trees have been retained and 107 trees have been relocated for phase 2A and 2B. Meanwhile, 1,165 have been cut down, said an official of the BBMP’s Forest Department.
Divya Hosur, General Manager of the Social and Environmental wizng of BMRCL, said 1,193 trees have been successfully transplanted so far. We will follow the evacuation guidelines issued by the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK). People trained in relocation will be given the task and the trees will be shifted only within a radius of 5 km. We have shifted trees to Bagmane Tech Park, Kadugodi and other places,” she said.
While the Government claims to have worked diligently following all the rules, environmental activists have expressed anger over the design of BBMP and BMRCL engineers who gave permission to fell trees. Engineers have deliberately identified more space on metro lines. Due to this, many trees above the age of 200 years were cut down.
Some opine that if the engineers had done the right identification and designs, we could have saved 30 per cent more trees from being cut down.