The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : For a greener and more organised Bangalore

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Monday, Nov 10, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

For a greener and more organised Bangalore

Staff Reporter

Concerned citizens take out walk opposing felling of trees

Photo: K. Murali Kumar.

Needing attention: (Top) The row of trees inside Lalbagh at West Gate which will pave way for the Bangalore Metro Rail project. (Below) Members of Hasire Usiru, an environment support group, joined by residents, taking out a rally from Lalbagh to Town Hall, against trees being cut in Bangalore. —

BANGALORE: The massacre of an alarming number of trees in the city for purpose of road widening and the Bangalore Metro has been a cause of concern among the environmentalists. On Sunday, several environmental groups joined in a walk from Lal Bagh to Town Hall, to raise the issue of environmental degradation the “City of Gardens” has witnessed in the recent times.

The walk, organised by Hasiru Usiru, a network of concerned individuals around Bangalore with support from various non-government organisations like Environment Support Group (ESG) saw hundreds of people of all age groups walking for a cause.

With bold placards reading slogans such as “We want greenery”, “Push the Metro underground” and many more, the members of the walk were determined to urge the people to use public transport in order to decongest roads. In view of the few heritage sites left in Bangalore such as “Lal Bagh” and “Cubbon Park”, the enthusiastic activists hope to push the metro underground to avoid destruction of such places.

Maliha Ibrahim and Naomi Menon, students of Christ University, said: “Such projects have been rampant all over the city. We just hope to save what is left of this city. The metro especially has led to so many people on MG Road losing their livelihood. We need to bring about a change.”

“People need to be involved to understand the ill effects of such plans. The number of vehicles on the road doubles every five years, so how long are we going to resort to felling of trees for widening the roads,” Divya Ravindranath, a Researcher at ESG told The Hindu.

Another walker for the cause, Meera Gopal, corporate trainer, E-Learning Company said: “Very soon there will be no greenery in Bangalore. I am sure there are better alternatives in urban planning. The metro is supposed to serve only a small segment of the population. It will make more sense to improve the current transport system, which could be less expensive.”

Among those present were Dinesh Gundurao, MLA, and former chairperson of the State Women’s Commission Premila Nesargi.

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