Karnataka High Court stays felling of 700 trees for suburban rail project

The Karnataka High Court has imposed a stay on felling around 700 trees for the suburban railway project between Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara railway stations, until July 12. The matter was heard on June 12 by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind.

The matter was raised via an interlocutory application to a separate public interest litigation (PIL). The interlocutory application itself was filed against a notification by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on May 29, which allowed Rail Infrastructure Development (Karnataka) to fell 699 trees and relocate 89. The PIL was filed in 2018 by Dattatreya Devare with regard to the preservation of trees.

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During the proceedings, the counsel for the BBMP requested time to respond to the application. In response to this, the bench granted time until July 8 by which time a reply to the application will have to be filed by the BBMP.

The court concluded by ordering, “In the facts and circumstances, there shall be no felling of trees in the area which is subject matter of this application till July 12.”