The data showed that in the given period the Tree Expert Committee (TEC) gave green signal to remove nearly 72% of the total trees that were proposed to be felled. While permission was sought by various agencies to remove 16,509 trees, 11,820 faced the axe and a little over 2,000 were translocated.
The fire was started to clear the land earmarked by BU at the Jnanabharati Campus for the expansion of UVCE. While the BU syndicate had earlier approved 50 acres of land, the formal transfer is still pending. The land was allotted after the UVCE administration requested the state government to issue an order for separating UVCE from BU.
After receiving clearance from the Tree Expert Committee (TEC) to cut 67 trees for construction of the flyover, the Palike removed nine trees on December 1 last year. The rest of the trees standing in the project area were also to be chopped on the same day. However, a special order issued by the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), BBMP, had put a temporary pause on the project.
As per BBMP, TEC has allowed removal of 102 out of 118 trees based on records produced by SWR and a detailed discussion of the site inspection report by TEC and BBMP. Of these, while 98 will be cut, four trees will be translocated. As many as 18 trees will be retained on-site.
On December 1, 2023, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation urged the Deputy Conservator of Forests Department to cease tree felling. Activists seek clarification from the Forest Department regarding the purposeful cutting of trees on footpaths and sidewalks, questioning the necessity to remove trees that don’t impede construction.