Over a thousand trees on Outer Ring Road may be felled to make way for the one section of the 58-km airport metro line. The Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), who is also the tree officer, has given the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) permission to fell 1,334 trees from Kasturi Nagar to Kempapura that are on the alignment of the elevated stretch of the metro line. Ironically, the trees had been planted as saplings between 2005-2006 on the median of the Outer Ring Road as part of green urban initiative.
Hundreds of saplings had been planted that year. Now, after a gap of over 15 years, they are likely to make way for the ORR- Airport metro line. To compensate for the loss of green cover, the BMRCL has been directed to plant saplings in land belonging to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in Hebbal and the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board’s Defence and Aerospace Park.
The DCF had given permission to BMRCL to remove trees in an order issued on March 10. However, the final sanction letter will be issued only after the High Court decides on the issue.
