Over 70 tree species among 1,128 marked for felling for Hebbal tunnel project

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The species diversity numbers could be much higher as the GBA is yet to upload the filtered list for the public to review and file objections. | Photo Credit: File photo

Over 70 species are among the 1,128 trees within the 2.2-km stretch scheduled to be felled for Bengaluru’s Hebbal short tunnel project. Apart from highlighting the massive biodiversity loss, experts argue that the move could substantially impact the microclimate, triggering a spike in temperature.

According to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) documents accessed by The Hindu, the species list includes Indian Kino, Big-leaf Mahogany, Beleric Myrobalan, Indian Jujube, Maple-leafed Bayur Tree, Paper Mulberry and Yellow Tabebuia, among others.

The species diversity numbers could be much higher as the GBA is yet to upload the filtered list for the public to review and file objections.

While the initial number of trees to be felled was 1,400, GBA officials said a few hundred were decided to be retained as they were not in the tunnel’s alignment.

R. Ganesan, Adjunct Fellow, ATREE, explained that such a large number of species within a 2-km stretch, particularly in an urban landscape, is not very common, although not unusual.

“In a forest setup, it is common to have a large number of species in a small area, but in a metropolitan area like Bengaluru, it highlights years of green space retention. The Hebbal area has already seen massive environmental destruction in the past few years; this move will directly impact the temperature,” he said.

A.N. Yellappa Reddy, former forest secretary, explained that felling over 1,000 trees will destroy several habitats and oxygen banks, besides impacting underground water levels.

“With such a massive destruction within a small area, the temperature will go up by at least two degrees and create heat islands, and that doesn’t mean that heat will go up in only that area. As a ripple effect, the temperature in another 2-km radius will go up,” he explained. “Even birds and other animals like squirrels and garden lizards will move away,” he added.

Mr. Reddy pointed out that the quality of life will also be impacted as temperature will take a hit. “With such a plethora of tree species, there will be multiple ecosystems and habitats that will also be destroyed,” he added.

On September 20, the GBA issued a public notice inviting objections to the felling of trees, stating that details of the trees and their locations had been uploaded on the GBA website. However, three days later, the list has not been published.

Dattatraya Devare, an environmental activist, alleged that the GBA is handling the objection-inviting process negligently. “If they don’t upload the details, how can we specify our objections, and if it’s not specific, then the objection will be junked. They should re-issue the public notice after publishing the list and then re-invite objections,” he stated. Several other citizen groups have also raised the question, demanding the immediate uploading of details.

A petition opposing the proposed Hebbal Short Tunnel project has crossed 20,000 signatures, with citizens seeking an immediate pause to the project and independent assessments of its environmental, hydrological, traffic and safety impacts.

Launched on Change.org on August 3, the petition seeks to “Save Bengaluru’s Green-Blue Landscape” and raises concerns over the proposed ₹1,140-crore, 2.2-km cut-and-cover tunnel, which will likely pass through areas including the Hebbal lake buffer, Hebbal Tree Park, Veterinary College campus and UAS staff quarters.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.