murali772 - 31 March, 2013 | Bangalore | Hosur Road | Road Works | Trees | Citizen Reports | environment | greening

Following are the excerpts from mail exchanges in the HasiruUsiru Y-group, in the subject connection:

RT:
Just got to know from a few residents on the stretch that the army has given BBMP to go ahead and widen the road 10 meters into their campus starting from Johnson Market. I just walked the stretch and counted more than 300 large trees like the Rain Trees and Jamun Trees on either sides. There are more trees if you were to take into account the Eucalyptus trees also.

Fortunately, all the big trees are aligned on a straight-ish line. We can push for them to retain them as a divider. As far as I know they haven't issued any notification to cut the trees. The residents of Elgin apartments and two others on the road have a stay form acquiring their properties from the high court.

SN:
The BBMP has created a precedent on Jayamahal road and Sarjapur Rd where a line of trees acts as a divider (he's referring to this). But I don't think their organisation acts in an integrated way and uses best practices from one area in another.

Maybe a photo of the Jayamahal road setup sent along with an appeal to Mr Siddiah may help preserve at least the first row of trees that line the Army side of the road. The opposite side has lost almost all its trees anyway.

RT:
That's true. But there are a few trees left on the side that has apartments, offices and houses that can be saved.

Quite as suggested, many of the big trees being in an almost straight line, and fairly well set back, perhaps the BBMP could retain the tree-line and use it as a median to provide for a cycle lane and footpath beyond it, in a slight variation of what they have done on Jayamahal road. It will be a sad day if they have to fell all those magnificent trees.

While on trees, here is what NaMo is doing to preserve Gujarat's tree wealth - a commendable 85% success in tree transplantation in their thousand's.

While the need for road widening is a much debated subject, including on PRAJA (check this), Hosur road, being an arterial road, perhaps could do with a bit of widening. But, while at it, even as trees, houses, shops, etc are having to give way, why is it that places or worship can also not be made to follow suit, particularly when there are enough and more court orders (including from the highest in the land) enabling it, and when the city of Jabalpur has shown us the way too (check this)?

Perhaps, this needs to be made an election issue to see if the political parties want to remain just politically correct, or correct in the proper sense of the word.

Muralidhar Rao
 

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