No new tree-felling permission for BMRCL till status report on compensatory plantation: K'taka HC

The Karnataka High Court had sought a report from BMRCL regarding the status of the translocation of trees. The court refused any new tree-felling or translocation permission for BMRCL till a status report was submitted.

Bengaluru:The Karnataka High Court dealing with public interest litigation (PIL) filed by environmentalist Dattatreya Devare and the Bangalore Environment Trust pressed on the submission of a status report on the condition of alternative saplings the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) was supposed to plant in lieu of trees felled for the Metro project till date. The court refused any new tree-felling or translocation permission for the BMRCL till a status report on the condition of compensatory plantation and dislocation of trees was filed.

A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe directed the Bengaluru civic agency Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) tree officer and the Deputy Conservator of Forests to file a status report within two weeks as per the court's August 24 order. The advocate for the petitioners told the court that the BMRCL has not followed the earlier High Court directives on afforestation and has 'failed' to provide information about planting new saplings as an alternative. The court observed that neither the government advocate nor the BBMP advocate was providing necessary information on the issue. It couldn't respond to the query that whether plants survived the heavy rains witnessed in the city in the last few days or not.

The BMRCL had sought permission for felling 382 trees and translocation of another 29 trees. But the High Court said it was not permitting any new tree cutting till it was informed of what happened to the saplings already planted. The PIL sought implementation of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act and the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Rules.