NGO urges BBMP to drop tree-felling plans for suburban rail network project

Bengaluru: A city-based NGO has approached the BBMP forest wing, seeking measures to protect 32,572 trees affected by the proposed suburban rail project.

In a petition to the BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests, Namma Bengaluru Foundation highlighted the prevailing issues of air pollution and the heat-island effect in the city, calling for departmental intervention.

The NGO stated that the BBMP has endorsed the felling of 2,098 trees and the transplantation of 178, but the environmental impact assessment and social impact assessment reports for the projects remain inaccessible to the public.

"Absence of a clear strategy for compensatory plantation of the substantial 22,760 trees exacerbates the concerns regarding ecological equilibrium," it said.

Vinod Jacob, General Manager of Namma Bengaluru Foundation, asserted that no trees should be cut for the project.

"Not a single tree needs to be cut; only the doubling of tracks and signal automation needs to be completed. Suburban rail can be started on the existing railway network. Utilising the current rail network, which covers 75% of the region's geography, could significantly address over half of the area's commuting needs," he added.