Bengaluru, 14 June

High Court has imposed a temporary halt on the felling of nearly 700 trees for Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) Corridor 2. The interim order applies to the section between Bennigana Halli and Chikkabanavara railway stations.

A division bench led by Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind issued the order on Wednesday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Dattatreya T Devere and the Bangalore Environment Trust. The petitioners had approached the court seeking a tree census in Bengaluru.

This move comes after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)'s Deputy Conservator of Forests, acting as the Tree Officer, issued a memorandum on 29 May, 2024, authorising the felling of 699 trees for the project. The memorandum also mentioned the translocation of 89 trees.

The Court's order is a temporary stay, and the next hearing is likely to determine the fate of the trees. This development highlights the ongoing debate between infrastructure development and environmental protection in Bengaluru. Salar News