The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday restrained the authorities till July 12 from either felling or removing 788 trees for Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project’s (BSRP) corridor-2 area between Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara railway stations.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind passed the interim order on an application filed challenging a notification issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which granted permission on May 29 to the Rail Infrastructure Development (Karnataka) Ltd., (K-RIDE), which is implementing the BSRP, to remove the identified trees.
The interim order was passed during the hearing of a PIL petition filed in 2018 by Dattatraya T. Devare and Bangalore Environment Trust complaining about the non-implementation of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976, as the petitioners filed application questioning the May 29 notification.
As the BBMP sought time to file its reply to the petitioners’ application, the Bench said the BBMP cannot permit the felling of trees till then while adjourning further hearing till July 8.
K-RIDE’s plea
K-RIDE had sought permission from the Tree Officer to fell around 1,200 trees, standing along the existing railway track between Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara railway stations for the BSRP.
However, the Technical Expert Committee, which was constituted on the directions of the High Court, declined permission for feeling 493 trees and directed K-RIDE to retain these trees. Meanwhile, the committee granted approval for the removal of 788 trees, which include permission to fell 699 trees and for translocating the remaining ones.
