Amid protest by green activists, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday temporarily stopped the tree cutting between Karnataka Polytechnic (KPT) and Nanthoor junctions on National Highway 66 for constructing flyovers at the junctions.
The NHAI was cutting the trees since October 1 also to build the 1.6-km-long service road between the two junctions. Assistant Conservator of Forests and Tree Officer P. Sridhar, on September 16, permitted the NHAI to translocate 370 roadside trees with girth between 0.2 cm and 0.6 cm, and cutting of remaining 232 trees. The 602 trees are on the NHAI land and it has paid to the Forest Department ₹54.3 lakh, which includes ₹39.25 lakh towards planting 6,020 saplings as compensatory afforestation.
Several green activists, including students of two city colleges, assembled near Paduva College on Tuesday morning where NHAI had cut three Mahogany trees. “The three trees were among the saplings planted by us eight years ago. They were fit for translocation, but has been cut down,” said protesting activist Jeeth Milan Roache.
