The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday allowed the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to remove 203 trees for construction of elevated viaduct and stations from Doorvaninagar to Kempapura Cross stretch for the metro project.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal passed the interim order while hearing a PIL petition filed by Bangalore Environmental Trust, which had complained that the provisions of the Karnataka Preservation Trees Act, 1976, were not implemented effectively in public projects.
The Bench granted permission based on the recommendations made by the Tree Expert Committee (TEC), appointed on the directions of the court, based on the application filed by the BMRCL seeking permission to cut trees on this stretch.
The TEC had recommended retaining of 14 trees and translocation of 45 others on this stretch and the Bench allowed the BMRCL to act on these recommendations, which was notified in the form of an official memorandum by the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, on January 18, 2023. The Bench also made it clear that BMRCL has to comply with all the conditions imposed by TEC.
On the objections raised on behalf of the petitioner on allowing felling of trees, the Bench noted that the petitioner had not submitted any objection or suggestion to the public notice issued by the authority on BMRCL’s application for removal of trees on this stretch.
The Bench also noted that the BMRCL had stated that it is open to take up compensatory plantation work in areas near the project if the petitioner suggests land available, free from any hurdle, near the project site. The BMRCL, in response to the complaint of the petitioner that compensatory plantations are being done far away from project sites, had said that it was compelled to do so due to non-availability of land.