There is light at the end of the tunnel for Phase I of the Namma Metro network, and the painstaking construction work for Phase II seems to be on the horizon. However, the first victim is nearly always mute trees.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has identified 313 trees that will make way for the construction of the extension of the current network along Kanakapura Road and Mysuru Road. By the start of the New Year, over 190 trees on Kanakapura Road (Reach 2) and 123 trees on Mysuru Road (Reach 4) are expected to be cut to make way for extensions of the lines there.
Since the notification in June, the Forest Cell of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which has to legally seek the opinion of the public for large-scale projects that will lead to a loss of greenery, has received over 200 objections through email.
However, tree officers said that most of the objections were “not specific”. “Our first consultation meet had to be cancelled. We will organise the second one on November 24 in Malleswaram after which we can give approval to the BMRCL,” said Ranganath Swamy, BBMP Tree Officer.
With no information being given, environmental groups believe the meetings are just eyewash. “There is no information given, and they do the hearing because they have to. This is not an informed opinion they want,” said Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group.
He believed that by withholding information about the tree cutting, while also “wilfully” keeping the meeting at Malleswaram instead of the affected areas, the machinery was participating in a “ritual” rather than a consultative meet.
Fewer trees to be felled
With Phase II seeing progress on paper, BMRCL officials are expected to submit the approval for cutting trees in Whitefield soon. The delay, explained officials, was attributed to the attempts to save three 50-year-old papal trees from road-widening planned. “The area will not see loss of trees directly to the metro project as the viaducts will pass in the middle of the road. However, the roads will be widened, and we trying to minimise the loss of trees,” said an official.
Compared to the first phase which saw over 1,400 trees being felled, Phase II is expected to lead to a loss of around 760 trees as most of the reaches are through “highly built areas” in the core areas of the city.
Just one person at public consultation
A recent public consultation meeting on the trees to be chopped for the new metro extensions turned into a farce.
At the Chowdiah Memorial Hall on November 17, while nearly 20 officials from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) occupied the dais, just one person from the public turned up. “Not many people got the invitation. And even those who received the mail could not open the attachment for the notification as it was entirely in Kannada, which needs Baraha or Nudi software to view it,” said Vinay Sreenivas from Hasiru Usiru, who was the only one to arrive at the public consultation.
BBMP Tree Officer Ranganath Swamy said a mail with “proper documents” would be sent to environmental organisations. The next consultation meeting on ‘Removal of trees which are obstructing the BMRCL projects’ will be held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram, at 3 p.m. on November 24.
Trees on R.V. Road were saved, but not others
In the first phase of the metro construction, the leafy canopy along Lalbagh on R.V. Road was on the verge of becoming just mentions in the history of a rapidly growing city.
Over 340 trees were identified on this stretch alone for felling. However, it was when the group Hasiru Usiru pulled out information about the routes, the trees that will be cut, and possible alternatives, that the scope of the “massacre” was known.
“When they notify for the cutting of trees, we do not have enough information to file objections. In the case of R.V. Road, we had to pull out details under the Right to Information Act. It was only then that we could organise a campaign… for other stretches, we didn’t know beforehand,” said Vinay Sreenivas of Hasiru Usiru.
In early 2009, hundreds gathered in multiple protests against the project; and the outrage led to meetings between environment groups, residents and BMRCL officials. Eventually, through alignment changes and alternatives such as tree surgery or pruning of branches, barely 180 trees were cut — a majority of them on K.R. Road.
But this sort of activism was not seen in other roads. The metro stretch on Tumakuru Road itself accounts for more than one-third of all trees cut in the first phase. Even Ambedkar Veedhi, which formed the picturesque background for tourists visiting Cubbon Park and the Vidhana Soudha, saw more than 200 trees being cut without protest.
Metro Phase I:
Length: 42 km
Trees cut: 1,428
Highest in Tumakuru Road: 494 trees
Ambedkar Veedhi: 204
Majestic Interchange: 181
Metro Phase II:
Length: 72 km
Trees identified to be cut: 764
Trees awaiting approval for chopping
Mysuru Road to Kengeri: 123 trees in 6.45 km
Puttenahalli to Anjanapura (Kanakapura Road): 190 trees in 6.9 km
Trees that were tentatively identified in the plans for Phase II
Extensions of Phase I lines: 432 trees to be chopped
New lines: R.V. Road to Bommasandra (Electronics City): 126
Gottigere (IIMB) to Nagawara: 206
