r All,
Earlier this week(April 13 and 14), the Bangalore Metro Rail corporation(BMRCL) has demolished over 500 feet of Lalbagh’s wall and cut down 5 eucalyptus trees inside Lalbagh. BMRCL proposes to have a Metro station inside Lalbagh itself!
Lalbagh is protected by a separate, stringent law. In a highly undemocratic move, the Karnataka Government changed the law by moving an ordinance to acquire LalbaGh land for the Metro, rather than prefer a debate over the changed law, in the Assembly. The opposition has also failed to protest this undemocratic move.
Lalbagh and Lakshman Rao Park on R.V.Road, (also called the AC Road, Nanda Road ), both major landmarks and heritage of Bangalore are being destroyed for the Metro. This when the High Court is hearing PIL over alternatives in Metro alignment.
What seems like a minor portion of Lalbagh gone today will surely lead to greater portion of the park being taken away to create parking zones and malls that the Metro plans at its stations.
When they sought clearance, Metro authorities claimed trees on Nanda Road will be pruned, and not felled. Now they want to cut 323 trees on Nanda Road(R.V.Road) alone.
The BBMP Tree Officer has confirmed that the tree felling in Lalbagh was not cleared by him. This makes felling of Lalbagh’s heritage trees, daylight robbery!
Don’t be a mute witness to this wanton destruction and illegal desecration of our parks and open spaces.
Come out and protest. Demand from candidates standing from Bangalore South to make their stand clear on the issue.
Let us stop the illegal construction of Metro in Lalbagh.
Join the Human Chain to be formed at the illegal demolition site(at R.V.Road, near Lalbagh westgate) on Wednesday, April 15, 6.00 pm.
Be there. 6 pm. …….
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We do understand the importance of metro in Bangalore but this should not be at the cost of Lalbagh.. Lalbagh is the heritage of Bangalore and it must be protected,improved and forworded to the future generation and should not be compromised for anything.
Are our city engineers & legislators so bad at planning? Haven’t they thought through this? I’d like to know their say on this.
‘@Poornima: Their response is that the widening and preparation for Metro HAS to be done and this is one of the “prices” we pay for development; they talk about (talk about, mind you, not any action so far) two saplings for every large tree cut down (as if a sapling will absorb that much oxygen, or support that much bird or animal life)….the mind-set is that it has to be done, so they are not willing to explore any alternatives.
Completely agree.. I do understand we need to address the traffic in Bangalore, but not really at the cost of the environment. These guys who fell the trees should try and understand that the these are the trees which have sheltered us till now and when you proclaim you live in the garden city, it’s these trees which have got us the name and the fame. I’m sure we will leave these high raised structures for future generation and show only photographs of how Bangalore was once upon a time, the so called “Garden City”….
To all you self important tree huggers, we, the increasing population is the reason why development of infrastructure like the metro is critical. So long as new trees are being planted, some trees have to be felled to make way for infrastructural projects. The government claims to be planting trees. We cannot have the cake and the bakery now can we? Can we put a ceiling on the population in Bangalore?? No.