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Protecting trees - Indiranagar
Written By murali772 - 17 March, 2010
Bangalore environment Trees Indiranagar Action Living public health environment ecology greenery
Knowing me to be a tree lover, members of the local coomunity keep calling asking to know as to what is to be done when they notice trees being felled in their neighborhood, the latest being the above massacre of 4 full-grown trees (very similar to the one that has been spared - seen at the extreme right of the picture) on the 100 ft road in Indiranagar (just North of the pedestrian over-bridge at the end of the fly-over).
Now, if the process is still under way when you come upon it, what you need to do is detailed in the ESG web-site, which may be accessed here. I have myself followed this a couple of times, and succeeded in limiting the damage considerably.
But, if the damage has already occured, like in the above instance, you could perhaps file a query under the RTI Act, on the lines of the one I am going to be filing pertaining to the instant case, as below, and forward a copy to ESG.
Details requested under the Right to Information Act, 2005 from
The Tree Officer, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore 560 001
1) Full name of the Applicant: Muralidhar Rao
2) Address: full postal address
3) Details of the information required: With respect to the 4 fully grown healthy trees, which lined the footpath in front of the Citibank/ Vodafone/ John Players show-rooms on the 100 ft road in Indiranagar (just North of the pedestrian over-bridge at the end of the fly-over), which were felled recently, please furnish the following:
a) Copy of the letter requesting permission for felling the trees,
b) Copy of detailed Inspection Report,
c) Karnataka High Court order dt 02/ 12/ 05 has mandated that the Hasiru Usiru be consulted, whenever possible, before granting permission for felling a tree within Bangalore. Please advise what steps were taken to consult the HU members, and what, if any, was their response.
d) Copy of the Consent letter, issued by you, detailing reasons for granting the consent.
4) Year to which the document pertains: current
5) Details of Application Fee of Rs 10/- (Rupees ten only) remitted: Postal Order enclosed
Signature of the applicant
Place: Bangalore
Ref no: Mu/ Ind/ 01
Date: 18/ 03/ 10
The very fact that it will require the authorities to do some work will perhaps deter them from issuing permissions that easily.
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
sharadjaiswal - 4 May, 2010 - 08:04
Ramesh;
I live right next to this new hospital on 18th cross - and I too observed with horror when they cut down the 3 gulmohars. I plan to file a RTI application. Let me know if you are interested too.
Sharad.
I'ngr 100ft rd - Trees crippled
Naveen - 17 March, 2010 - 14:37
Mr Murali,
I noticed the felled trees on 100-ft rd too - this appears to be the handiwork of the commercial buildings adjacent to the trees (seen in picture). I think some of the branches had been coming in way of their premises, & they must have used the excuse to remove all branches !!
Good to know that you've filed an RTI for details about this - await the response.
murali772 - 17 March, 2010 - 12:21
A division Bench of the high court has ordered notice to the chief secretary over a public interest litigation seeking the constitution of a ‘tree authority’ as per the Karnataka Tree Preservation Act, 1976. “At present, there are only tree officers who permit indiscriminate felling of trees. As per the Act, an appellate tree authority should be there to hear appeals concerning tree felling,” Keshava V Chalam, petitioner who heads an NGO, stated in his PIL.
The above report in the TOI may be accessed here.
rs - 18 March, 2010 - 02:29
This is terrible - Banglore is really being raped - there is no milder world. I hope some good comes out of the RTI - though it wont restore the trees. What annoys me also is that after they cut the trees they dont do a good job at the end of the day. In many instances the stumps remain - which makes one question why they needed to cut the tree. In other instances - they replant some trees stupidly in the middle of the footpath - and these are not even nice trees. When they grow they will just impede pedestrian traffic. And in an case the trees have a very small chance of survival - as they cement all around. So what ends up is a dying shrub in the middle of the footpath - but statistically it counts towards a replanted tree - so they can say that for every tree they cut they can say they have planted ten more.
One has to wonder why they - whoever they may be - are so bent on destroying Bangalore. Very few cities in the world have the wonderful tree coverage that Bangalore has - but its fast vanishing.
Ramesh
time to push for establishment of Tree Authority
murali772 - 6 June, 2012 - 07:41
It is not enough for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to plant saplings across the city. It has to form the Tree Authority as required under the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976, said Opposition Leader M K Gunashekar.
Speaking to presspersons on the occasion of World Environment Day here on Tuesday, he said as per the Act, the Tree Authority should be formed under the Mayor's chairmanship. The authority is mandated to ensure the saplings are maintained, take a call on felling [sick] trees, take up tree census and meet once in three months to chalk out programmes for the preservation of trees. “It is a serious lapse on the part of the BBMP to have not formed the authority,” he charged.
According to BBMP's records, more than 6,186 trees have been felled since 2008-09 for infrastructure works, including road widening and Namma Metro construction. “In the absence of the Tree Authority, who gave the permission to fell these trees? There is no information on whether the saplings planted in the previous two years have survived. This indicates the lack of accountability in the BBMP,” he added. The BBMP had also failed to pressure the government on a policy decision with regard to the widening of 216 roads in the city.
For the full report in The Hindu, click here
Finally, a politician is making the right kind of noises on this score. May his tribe increase. And, perhaps, it's time the Civil Society came together to give a collective push to the idea of setting up the Tree Authority, if necessary through a contempt of court petition.
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