Chop…Chop! Trees Felled to Make Way for New DC Office in Padil amidst Protest
Mangaluru: Even though there were a bunch of environmental activists trying to prevent the felling of nearly 666 trees at the location in Alake/Padil where the construction of the proposed DC mega Complex is coming up, but all their efforts were in vain, since the trees were felled anyhow under tight police security on Wednesday, 10 January. With heavy machinery and wood cutting saw equipments, the workers with protection from police got into the spree of axing down as many trees they could do on the first day. The decision to axe down the trees came after the District Tree Officer gave permission.
According to sources, the proposal to build a new DC office complex for Dakshina Kannada requires cutting of more than 666 trees on this nearly six acres property situated at Alake village in Padil. The order to cut down the trees was passed on Tuesday 9th January night and the tree felling began next day early morning (10 Jan). Even though there were lot of objections from greens, but they were all helpless since the cutting down of trees went on a full swing in the presence of police personnel- and the area was cordoned-off so that no one entered the area.
Speaking to media, Suma Ramesh, an advocate representing environmentalists said, “We had tried all legal means to stop the cutting of trees. Even our protests at the location didn’t work, since the area was cordoned-off by the cops, and no one was allowed to enter the premises. Not sure how many were cut on the first day, but as per order only 202 trees are allowed to cut but we are totally clueless on how many trees will be axed since we are not permitted visit the premises,”.
It may be recalled that a public hearing conducted by the forest department a week ago to seek public opinion on the proposal to fell trees had turned chaotic with two groups getting into an argument. The Karnataka High Court and Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976 had made public hearing mandatory if the number trees to be felled is more than 50/ hectare. The proposal of constructing this new DC office complex requires felling of 502 big trees and 164 smaller ones. Though 189 people submitted their opinion, many felt that the hearing should be held again considering the commotion prevailed during the session.
As per Secretary of National Environment Care Federation (NECF) Shashidar Shetty, “Depletion of green cover has already led to climatic changes like shortage of rain, drought, high temperatures and other environmental issues. The project should be shifted to a new place where no trees will have to be cut. As a responsible citizen, it was my constitutional duty to protect the forests and wildlife of my country. Hence, I had already mailed my objection to the forest department and urged the authorities not to grant permission to fell even a single tree for the project. But it looks like they ignored my complaint. We will keep on fighting “.