On 12th November 2008, Hasiru Usiru (HU) volunteers, in a symbolic act of protection, tied white ribbons around the trees on Sheshadri Road. The road is slated to be widened, with several 40-50 years old trees along its strength to be felled.

As Chairman, Yellappa Reddy, of the Empowered Committee, himself turned up for the inspection of the road, he was met by Vijay Narnapatti, an architect and a HU volunteer. Naranpatti pressed for the cause of retaining as many trees as was possible, and reiterated that road-widening was, at best, only a short-term solution. Reddy countered that as a…

In a Lok Adalat hearing on 19th November at the High Court of Karnataka, Justice K L Manjunath pointedly asked Yellapa Reddy, chairman of the committee overseeing Bengaluru’s roadwidening project to listen to the petitioners complaints on widespread tree cutting. The Adalat took exception to Reddy’s standpoint which appeared to one of merely representing local government officials’ views instead of striking a balance between citizens and officials.

As reported earlier in Citizen Matters, a writ petition was filed by NGOs Environment Support Group, CIVIC and the green network Hasiru Usiru a few months ago, against the tree cutting undertaken by…

For sometime now, Hasiru Usiru, a group of individuals and NG0's, has been concerned at the way in which BBMP is going about addressing Bangalore's traffic congestion. At issue has been the manner in which the ‘Empowered Committee For Sustainable Development of Bangalore’ has been working and it's compliance with the Town and Country Planning Act. (See earlier article.)

In the meantime, on the premise of permissions granted by the comittee, the BBMP has been going ahead with indiscriminate tree-felling in the name of road-widening. Hasiru Usiru (HU) members have been trying to prove that alternative solutions exist, that will not…

Amongst the many images and impressions at that I saw and experienced at the "Namma Raste, Namma Ooru" walk on Sunday, 9th November 2008, was the picture of this tiny tot;

She didn't seem to be angry, or against anything; she made a peaceful statement that surely none of us can disagree with...and was calmly eating something that a tree gave her, too!

Surely, if a little one like her can come out to express her opinion, the rest of us can take heed and protect the trees we have left!

Update: What a coincidence! I shared this image with Hasiru Usiru...and…

Hasiru Usiru (HU), a group of citizens concerned on green issues at Bangalore, has been trying to get the BBMP to involve its nominated members to be part of the decision-making process. This, especially after the High Court of Karnataka handed down a decision to the effect that BBMP should not take any developmental steps without clearance from an empowered committee which was setup as part of a litigation initiated by Hasiru Usiru.

So far, its efforts have been fruitless, and HU members have been deeply concerned to see the ongoing felling of trees for widening several roads in the…

With regard to the tree-felling and road-widening that is happening now.....we are against *indiscriminate* use of this facility, that's all. The point is, that cutting down trees is irreversible, so what we are saying is, involve the citizens in this decision-making process, and let us cut down trees ONLY when there is no other solution.

The High Court of Karnataka has given a decision that the BBMP authorities must include the citizens' forum, Hasiru Usiru, in its deliberations and only take decisions on tree-felling and road-widening that complies with the Town and Rural Planning Act. Right now, this is not…