Previous attempts to widen the road have seen massive public opposition.
Almost a decade after it was first proposed, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has floated tenders for the widening of Jayamahal Road and Ballari Road, despite a legal tangle and widespread public opposition to its previous attempts. The same stretch was set to be part of the controversial steel flyover project, which hard sparked massive protests in the city. The protests had forced the then Siddaramiah government to shelve the project in 2016. The vehement opposition to the project primarily hinged on environmental grounds, as the widening would result in the loss or translocation of at least a hundred trees. Opponents also felt that the road widening would further encourage private vehicle usage, shifting traffic bottlenecks elsewhere down the route. Vijay Nishanth, known as the ‘tree doctor,’ said, “There is no way that we are going to let this go through. We will hold protests like we did against the steel flyover. Strangely, the BJP had supported us when the Congress government had proposed it. Now the tables have turned.” Though the road-widening project was first proposed in 2009, it has been repeatedly delayed over the years. In 2017, about 30,000 residents wrote to the BBMP in opposition to the project. Recently, the Karnataka High Court had come down heavily on the BBMP for not conducting a tree census, and had said that a single tree could not be cut before the formation of a Tree Committee. The Bangalore Environment Trust had approached the court stating that authorities were bypassing mandated public consultation processes due to existing loopholes. While authorities have to hold public consultation for any project requiring the felling of 50 trees, authorities like the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation had sought individual clearances by dividing its projects into smaller project components. According to BBMP estimates in 2017, the number of trees set to be cut or translocated for the project is as many as 112, while other independent studies suggest the number could be much higher. Activists opposing the project had also cited numerous Karnataka High Court judgements to suggest that tree cutting should be considered as an exception rather than the rule. When the project was last discussed in 2017, the BBMP had said it had not conducted any feasibility studies as yet. Speaking to TNM, Prabhakar, Executive Engineer for Road Widening, BBMP, said, “We have sought clearance from the Tree Committee through the BBMP DCF. They will take a call on the issue. It is not that we will cut all the trees, we will transplant some of them.” Earlier in 2017, BBMP had said that 45 trees will be translocated. Speaking on the same, Leo Saldhana, senior lawyer and co-ordinator of the Environment Support Group, said, “They (BBMP) may float any number of tenders. But they cannot fell trees unless tree census is conducted and the permission of the High Court-appointed committee is obtained. Besides, the committee has to hear various voices before they take a decision.”
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