“Basavaraj Bommai sir, we got to know that the road outside our school is being widened and around 40 trees will be felled. Our seniors have struggled to fetch water for the saplings, which have now become full-grown trees. We also care for the trees in our school. Engineers keep visiting our school and we are scared that the trees may be cut soon. Please help us save our trees,” said Priya, a student of Jindal Jubilee Government High School in Abbigere, in a video message to the Chief Minister.
Scores of students of the school staged a protest on Wednesday against the proposed road widening for which the trees in the school’s ground would become the first casualty. They held placards and stood around the trees they have been playing around for several years.
Another student pointed out that their textbooks teach lessons on protecting the environment and trees, while on ground, the civic agencies gave scant importance to the same.
An alumnus of the school, who spoke to The Hindu , said that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) proposed to widen the Abbigere Main Road that goes towards Lakshmipura and Hessarghatta. “As per information we have received, the road will eat into 20ft of the school ground. This means that the 40-odd full-grown trees on the periphery will have to be cut,” he said and added that the students’ only demand was for the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to visit the school and direct the BBMP to not fell any trees.
When contacted, Narasimha Murthy, BBMP’s Joint Commissioner, Dasarahalli zone, said the road widening project was being spearheaded by the Department of Major Roads. “However, there has been no discussion on felling of trees,” he claimed.
