3,559 trees to be cut down in Bengaluru city for road, metro projects
Bengaluru: A staggering 3,559 trees are set to be cut down to facilitate five civil projects in the city. More than 90% of the trees will be felled for road-widening or road-building projects in southern Bengaluru.
An expert committee on Friday began an inspection to examine tree-felling proposals submitted by three different government agencies.
The committee was formed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on a high court order.
The proposals include cutting down a whopping 1,822 trees for roadworks between NICE Road and Magadi Road as part of a larger two-laning project taken up by the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP).
The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) has sought the clearing of 1,116 trees for widening roads in Anekal, Yelahanka and KR Puram. Added to this is the request for felling 377 trees for widening a part of National Highway 209.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has proposed the cutting down of 115 trees in UM Kaval for building the Anjanapura depot as well as the connecting line and the clearing of 129 trees in the Kadugodi plantation area for building stations for the Whitefield metro line.
Several metro projects are already behind schedule because environmentalists have gone to court, accusing the BMRCL of not following the due procedure before cutting the trees.
Officials said the expert committee, which would submit a report next week, would focus on the ways to mitigate the damage to the environment and the possibility of translocating the trees.
An environmental activist, however, insisted that the committee must first look into the “illegal” destruction of the environment in Bengaluru Rural. “The BBMP has made a tactical move to limit the survey and inspection to Bengaluru Urban. Hundreds of trees have been cut and no compensatory afforestation has been taken up in areas like Sarjapur but they are kept out of the exercise,” he said.
To a question, a forest official agreed that the areas in Bengaluru Rural should also be assessed.
“Those areas are practically part of core Bengaluru. The damage to nature is the same regardless of the division. It’s up to the government to decide on this,” he stated.
Courtesy: www.deccanherald.com
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
