BENGALURU: In a relief for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the Supreme Court summarily dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) against the December 23, 2021 order of the Karnataka high court, granting permission for cutting/felling 577 trees along Nagawara-Gottigere Metro alignment in terms of the Tree Expert Committee report.
A bench comprising justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath dismissed the SLP filed by Dattatraya T Devare, petitioner in the PIL before the high court.
The HC had noted that according to the November 18, 2021 expert committee report, out of the 833 trees examined, 44 were found suitable for retention and 212 for translocation, thus saving 256 trees.
In his submissions, the petitioner’s counsel told the top court that as per the DPR of November 2019, only 1,218 trees were to be affected, whereas official memoranda reveal the total number of trees to be affected are 2,115. However, the court pointed out that it is natural that DPRs are bound to undergo modification as per change in circumstances and added that if Bengaluru needs a Metro, the same cannot be expected to run in the air.
It may be recalled that after recording BMRCL’s submission that there’s a daily Rs 2 crore loss/ cost escalation due to withholding of the project for want of permission for tree cutting, a division bench of the high court headed by chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi had said that the project should be completed in a time-bound manner.
As regards the objection raised by the petitioners on the requirement to axe 577 trees, as recommended by the Tree Expert Committee, the division bench was of the opinion that courts aren’t experts to opine on the aspect and have to go by the committee report.
In his PIL which is still pending before the high court, Dattatraya T Devare, an environmentalist sought for constituting a committee/task force to oversee that tree officers and the tree authority carry out their functions and duties in accordance with provisions of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976 and Karnataka Preservation of Trees Rules, 1977.
In June last year, an interlocutory application too was filed by the petitioner seeking the court’s intervention in the matter of chopping of trees along the Nagawara-Gottigere alignment.
