Written by Shivani Kava
As the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) proposed a flyover along the city’s Sankey Tank bund road, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) has revealed that around 55 trees and 400 saplings, crucial for carbon sequestration and habitat for various wildlife, will be destroyed as a result of the flyover.
As part of the EIA, researchers from Azim Premji University and Vruksha Foundation conducted a census of various tree species marked for axing. The study determined that the trees store 121 tonnes of carbon annually, providing a valuable service of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impact of global warming. A typical passenger vehicle emits 4.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, making the contribution of these trees all the more important, it said. The team, along with volunteers, walked the 1.5km stretch between the Cauvery underpass junction on Ballari Road to Malleswaram 18th Cross Sankey Tank junction to gather data on the number and size of the trees. The study found that while the BBMP's Detailed Project Report acknowledged the 70-plus fully grown trees along the stretch, it did not include the 400 saplings of paper mulberry plants that have been planted in the area.
According to the EIA report, 55 trees, including notable specimens such as a raintree with a girth of 500 cm, a mango tree with a girth of 450 cm, and a tamarind tree with a girth of 422 cm, will be cut. The report also states that 16 flowering trees and 23 fruiting trees will be impacted. Additionally, the study found that 400 saplings and trees of paper mulberry growing on the Sankey Tank bund would be cut and that 27 trees of 11 species of trees would be impacted.
The cutting down of trees for the Sankey Road flyover project will result in several detrimental and permanent environmental impacts, such as:
> reduction of the green cover
> increase in air pollution
> exacerbation of unpredictable weather, causing discomfort and additional expenses
> impacts on urban biodiversity
> negative impact on lake ecosystem of Sankey Tank
The EIA report was prepared by Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli from Azim Premji University and Vijay Nishanth from Vruksha Foundation, amid growing opposition to the project by activists. The proposed flyover on Sankey Road has faced opposition from activists against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), with concerns raised over the impact it will have on the city's environment.
Residents of Malleswaram and Sadashivanagara fiercely opposed the proposed flyover project along the Sankey Tank bund road. They have submitted a formal request to the BBMP Chief Commissioner to put the project on hold and conduct a public consultation before proceeding. In protest, they even staged an act of climbing trees and staying there for more than 24 hours after BBMP secretly cut down 17 trees. To further express their opposition, they had started an online petition and sent postcards to the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. According to the residents, constructing the flyover will only shift the traffic to another congested area instead of solving it. They emphasised that the Cauvery junction underpass is already a major bottleneck, and that the flyover project will only exacerbate the issue.