The Karnataka High Court has recently issued an interim direction staying felling of trees in Bangalore for widening of roads.    

The Principal Bench of the Karnataka High Court, constituted by Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice B. V Nagarathna, issued the direction to the authorities concerned. The order was issued in continuance of hearings in the PIL filed by Environment Support Group and others challenging Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP - Bangalore's civic agency) proposal.    

As per the proposal, it is planned to widen 216 roads in violation of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act and Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, amongst others.    

Submitting some of the major concerns raised in the PIL, Sunil Dutt Yadav, Advocate for ESG, explained that hundreds of trees were being recklessly felled over the years in Bangalore for road widening and other infrastructure projects.    

The Tree Officer of the BBMP, a forest official deputed from the Forest Department and working from within the BBMP, is constrained from taking any objective decision, and there is rarely any reasoned order justifying such massive felling of trees.    

In fact, entire lines of trees are felled without in any manner taking into account alternatives, such as retaining street trees as medians and creating safe cycling paths.