Amidst opposition from activists, MCC justifies felling of trees for road work

coastaldigest.com web desk
October 29, 2018

Mangaluru, Oct 29: The felling of trees as part of road construction work between Kannagudde and Saripalla by the Mangaluru City Corporation has evoked protest from the green activists.

The MCC had sought permission from the Southern Railway as a portion of the land on which the road passes through belongs to the Railways. It was a long pending demand of the Kannagudde and Saripalla residents. On Saturday a giant rain tree was razed to the ground to facilitate the road work.

Mayor Bhaskar K. said that the MCC paid Rs. 1.35 crore to the Railways that accorded permission for laying the road. The MCC has earmarked Rs. 85 lakh for laying the road. “It is a long pending demand of the residents. The road will come up in the next few weeks,” he said.

The MCC then sought permission from the Range Forest Officer, Mangaluru, for felling 26 trees coming in the way of the project. The RFO granted permission on August 9 for cutting down the old rain tree and 25 others that included badam, mango, jackfruit and Sagwani trees.

While 25 trees were cut a few days ago, the old rain tree with 3.8 metres girth was cut down on Saturday evening. National Environment Care Federation Ullal unit president Naveen Nayak accused the MCC of unnecessarily removing the old rain tree that was by the side of the proposed road. “Despite the tree not coming in the way of the new road, it has been removed. This tree is nearly a century old,” he said and rued the apathy of the officials to preserving greenery.

Refuting the allegations, Mr. Bhaskar said that the old tree was removed as it was on the road shoulder-drain alignment and other utilities. “We care about trees. We do not unnecessarily cut them down,” he said and added that afforestation for the loss of 26 trees has been taken up on a land nearby.

Comments

Damu
 - 
Monday, 29 Oct 2018

Nature will retaliate some day.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 3: The Karnataka high court on Thursday issued notices to the Railway Board and the South Western Railways on a petition seeking review of superfast surcharge being levied on passengers in Malgudi Express train.

Petitioner and Mysurubased advocate Mohammed Dastagir, in a public interest litigation claimed that as per the circular issued by the Railway Board on December 10, 2006, Malgudi Express — which runs from Mysuru to Yelehanka — is not designated as a superfast train and despite the same, the authorities are illegally collecting additional charges known as supplementary charges ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 75 from passengers.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka posted the petition to second week of February.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 14: In a unique initiative, students of a government school in Dakshina Kannada have made a food stop in the campus to provide water and food to birds and squirrels.

The students have hung coconut shells on trees in the school premises with food and water in it for birds and squirrels.

Speaking about the same, the Principal of the school said: "Students are taking a lot of interest in the activity. Various types of birds visit the school campus, making the ambience very nice."

He added that he wants children to become socially and environmentally conscious. "The one area where children need to be given exposure is the protection of the environment, the upkeep of the campus and the greenery in and around their homes as well as in their schools."

Commenting on the recent initiative of the school's eco-club, he said, "Using this small idea, we can have a great beginning towards taking up bigger initiatives to take care of the environment."

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News Network
January 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Karnataka’s ranking in Niti Aayog’s sustainable development goals (SDG) index rose by one place to No. 6 in 2019, compared to the year before.

Of the 17 SDGs that are used to compute the overall index, Karnataka topped in two – ‘climate action’ and ‘life on water’. The former is a measure of how well a state integrates climate action into policies and strategies and promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change planning and management. The latter focuses on preventing marine pollution, ending illegal and destructive fishing practices, and sustainably managing and protecting marine and coastal ecosystems.

It also did well in ‘decent work and economic growth’ and ‘peace, justice and strong institutions’. But it fared poorly, slipping 16 places – from No. 5 in 2018 to No. 21 in 2019 – in ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’. Rankings in ‘quality education’ and ‘zero hunger’ have also fallen. While in education it is now ranked 7, a drop of three places, in ‘zero hunger’, it has dropped to No. 17 from 13. SDG is a United Nations initiative. Niti Aayog has customised it for India, and 36 states and union territories are ranked. The organisation admits there is an issue of data availability in India, indicating the numbers may not exactly reflect the ground situation.

In ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure, Karnataka scored just 40 out of a target of 100. The country average was 65. It failed to achieve targets in all the four parameters for the category, except in the number of mobile connections, where it has 100 connections per 100 population. The biggest dip was in manufacturing industry jobs and in providing allweather roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to targeted habitats. Niti Ayog has given a score of 0 for the latter. Speaking on the dismal performance in the ‘industry and infrastructure’ category, state planning commission vice-chairman BJ Puttaswamy said he was yet to look into this parameter. “I have asked the departments concerned to meet me by Monday,” he said.

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