30 June,2011 06:36 AM IST | | Sheetal Sukhija
After drawing flak from all quarters about the road widening at Sankey Tank Road, the BBMP now plans to stand against anyone who gets in the way. After receiving civic verification from the executive engineers who inspected the area along with residents, it was decided that 19 trees would be felled for road widening.
The auction held yesterday afternoon however ended in a mess, as residents and activists succeeded at pressurising the bidders against participating. Over 200 residents from various resident welfare associations and environmentalists gathered at Sankey Tank to stop the bidding process.
Green crusaders: Residents protest against tree felling drive at
Malleshwaram near Sankey Tank yesterday. Pic/ Satish Badiger
After concluding the day long council meeting, Deputy Mayor S Harish and BBMP Commissioner Siddhaiah learnt about the issue and have now decided to take a tough stance.
"We have managed to prevail upon the good sense of these bidders and will continue to use the same approach against anyone who supports the felling of these trees. There are hardly any traffic jams in this area and in spite of massive public opposition, BBMP officials are strongly spearheading this campaign.
"They need to understand what people, who have elected them, feel about the matter as they clearly have lost their connection with voters," said Dr Meenakshi Bharat, an activist and resident who has been heading the protest.
Will not stop
BBMP commissioner Siddhaiah on the other hand seemed to be furious about the matter and claimed that the auction to be held on Friday will go on without any protests.
"The BBMP has made a decision on this matter and we are not going to go back on the project, come what may. So what if the bidders have been convinced not to participate, there will surely be other bidders who would be interested," he said.
However, the commissioner had earlier made a very environmental friendly statement claiming that he would not allow tree felling. "Earlier when questions were raised about cutting down trees at Kaveri Junction and at Basham Circle, had opposed it because there was really no need to cut them down. However this is a different case - the road has to be widened and cutting down these trees is inevitable. We will make sure minimum damage is caused," he reassured while making his strong stance clear.
Allegations?
Meanwhile, as residents make allegations that the BBMP authorities have received kickbacks to speed up the process, the deputy mayor made a shocking claim.
"The protesters themselves have vested interest. They came to our office and demanded that road widening work to be stopped. They told us that we should follow their 'instructions'.
After discussing the matter we arrived at an amicable solution and the width of the road has been reduced to 27 meters from the earlier 32 metres. Under no circumstances will the auction be stalled on Friday,"
said Harish.
He added that even as residents continue to stage protests and approach higher authorities, the BBMP
has sent a very strong statement claiming that anyone who gets in the way would not fare well. A resident Uma however questioned, "Why are they suddenly showing keen interest in our area where all the big builders run their respective businesses?"
