Articles by S Nityananda

Bangalore Environment Trust has come out with a position paper on the widening of 91 roads in general and six core inner city roads in particular. Bangalore Environment Trust (BET), founded in 1987, works on environment issues concerning the city. Our point is that there is a case for a relook at this 91 roads programme based on various traffic measures being taken by the government like Metro, Monorail, underpasses etc. In any case, we feel that six heritage roads with a large number of old trees must not be widened, but instead various other measures to expedite traffic must…

Our BBMP seems to have achieved a unique double by first felling trees on a large scale and then leaving the roads chosen for widening in a pathetic state.   A great example is Seshadri Road on which I drove last night , when returning from the Railway station.  We know that the Rain Trees on this road were felled in December last year and the road widening has been underway for one full year on what is only a 2 km road. On one stretch of this road where new trees have been planted and the road fully laid the situation looks good.   The real…

In the ongoing, sometimes fractious discussions between green organizations and bodies like the BBMP and BMRCL, our citizens could possibly have lost the core arguments on the two sides, both of which are certainly valid and appear to lead in opposite directions.It is, therefore, vital to state these views clearly and then find the middle ground. Each party needs to shift its stance from their earlier frozen positions and work out a protocol for future projects. There should be proper documentation of issues in each project and a modality to deal with the environmental impact, which is to the satisfaction…

Traffic planning, road widening and mass tree felling is all the rage in Bangalore nowadays. City officials have paid scant respect to environmental activist groups who have protested the destruction of the inner city's green cover. There is good reason for this. Do you know that our city planners are extremely busy looking far ahead into the future and have some great plans in store? Here is a rundown of some stupendous new projects on the anvil and the benefits they will bring1. Improving passenger volumes on the Bangalore Metro:High passenger usage is a key to any major Metro project.…