A road which is being laid along Shola forest and the grassland in Devaramane connects an already existing road and there was no need to lay it, said environmentalists.
Bhadra Wildlife Conservation Trust trustee D V Girish said, "Several trees have been destroyed for laying the road and the Forest Department claims that the area does not belong to them."
He appealed to the district administration to stop the work on the road which is in a sensitive area of the Western Ghats.