A private school in Bengaluru booked for axing seven trees in front of it has now been accused of covering the tree pits with concrete despite being ordered to plant trees there again.
“We have booked a case against the Geetanjali Olympiad School and PU College management. The school has been asked to plant the saplings in the same area. We have given them time to plant the saplings and the school will be asked to pay a fine as well. They have been asked to remove the cemented path,” said Hanumanthappa Patil, range forest officer of the Yelahanka zone.
The forest department booked the school in Panathur last month. Calls made to the school did not elicit any response.
“This incident is very unfortunate. As a citizen, I believe we need to raise awareness and enforce the laws strictly. It is sad that while we try to contribute to society by planting saplings, they are lost to either work or such violations,” a local resident, Ravi Rajhans, said.
Local residents say that despite resistance, they carried out a plantation drive in Panathur in 2019 and managed to plant more than 400 saplings. Last year more than 70 plants were removed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to repair roads and drains.
Another resident, Ram Kanala, had approached the school management after he saw the path cleared off the trees. He learnt that the trees had been removed to give visibility to the school. “The better the green cover, the closer we live to nature,” he said.
