Karnataka High Court approves felling of 530 and 1,988 trees for Command Hospital and suburban railway projects

The High Court of Karnataka has permitted felling of 530 and 1,988 trees to make space for construction a new modern multi-storey hospital complex on the premises of Command Hospital, Air Force, and for the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project’s (BSRP) stretch between Ambedkarnagar and Muddanahalli Line Cross, respectively.

The High Court of Karnataka has permitted felling of 530 and 1,988 trees to make space for construction a new modern multi-storey hospital complex on the premises of Command Hospital, Air Force, and for the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project’s (BSRP) stretch between Ambedkarnagar and Muddanahalli Line Cross, respectively.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice M.I. Arun, passed the interim order while vacating a stay granted earlier for felling the trees.

The Bench passed the order while hearing a PIL petition, filed in 2018 by Dattatraya T. Devare and the Bangalore Environment Trust complaining about non-implementation of several provisions of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976.

The court, through the petition, is monitoring activities of felling trees by setting up a tree expert committee (TEC), which has to scrutinise applications seeking permission to fell trees for large projects.

The Bench rejected the petitioners’ plea that that permission should not be granted to cut trees on the Command Hospital premises as the compensatory afforestation was done at two different locations and not on the hospital premises.

There is no space available to plant 5,300 saplings at the rate of 10 per tree to be felled as compensation, the Bench said, while noticing that the Defence authorities have already completed the compensatory afforestation work on their campuses in Yelahanka and Jalahalli Air Force stations.

The Defence Estate Officer had sought permission to fell 736 trees and the TEC, after inspection, recommended grant of permission to cut 530 and translocate eight others, while declining permission to cut 211 as they are outside proposed construction area. The Bench approved the permission given by the Tree Officer based on this recommendation of the TEC.