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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Bangalore University faces protests over plan to cut 419 trees for new academic block
Bengaluru: Bangalore University's decision to cut 419 trees to build a new academic block has sparked controversy, with a group of citizens and environmentalists protesting against the decision. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now BU has maintained that this is not from the land allocated for bio-park. The new wave of protest started after the office of the deputy conservator of forest of BBMP invited public opinion on the removal of trees. BU planned to build an academic building as part of the PM-Usha scheme. Under the scheme of the central govt, BU will receive a grant of Rs 100 crore. Of this, 60% will be funded by the centre and 40% by the state. As per BU's plans, infrastructure development includes construction of an academic building and a research building at an estimated cost of Rs 58 crore. It will be a three-storied building, spanning an area of 107,376 square feet. The plan is to use the academic building facility for modern subjects such as digital education, distance education, science, technology, and mathematics. The two-storied research building will cover an area of 16,163 square feet and extensive research on topics including economic development, social equality, environmental protection, sustainable development, climate change, and artificial intelligence will be conducted here, said the university. However, the environmentalist groups are not amused. "The place chosen might not be part of the bio-park, but it is a remnant of an earlier reserve forest and needs to be preserved," said Renuka Prasad, former professor of biodiversity from the university. The construction should have started two months ago, but was delayed because of various protests. "We will not even be using 1.5 acres of land for construction. The area is not part of the bio-park. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now We will try to protect as many trees as possible. Only where the building foundation has to be built, we will cut trees," said Jayakara Shetty, BU VC. "The land is for educational purposes. We are not deviating from that. We have to utilise the funds within a stipulated time, else we will lose the funds," he added. Renuka Prasad said: "We are not against the development of the university. What we are saying is that trees need not be cut. The university has around 75 acres of land encroached. With a KAS officer as registrar now, it will be easy for it to start the process of evicting the encroachment." "There is also the option of vertical growth. Bengaluru City University, for instance, has decided on vertical growth. BU has around 130 buildings, some of them large enough to build vertically. There is also infrastructure that is not being used to its full utility. All these can be used, instead of felling trees to find more space," he said. The group has already raised concerns about constructing buildings for University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and National Law School of India University on the campus. "How is the progress of the institute possible without allowing any building to come up and just preserving 1,000 acres for forest? We should have a balance. The best possible way is to ensure that a minimal area is taken up by having vertical growth. Also, the trees should be repositioned instead of being cut down," said K R Venugopal, former vice-chancellor of BU.
New Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Dirty water plagues Nanjappa Road residents as BWSSB fails to resolve decade-old contamination issues
BENGALURU: Is Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) supplying contaminated water to residents of Shanti Nagar's Nanjappa Road? Yes, according to residents of the locality, which has over 250 houses. BWSSB diverted the sewage line running from MG Road to Shanthi Nagar about 10 years ago. Since then, they have been getting contaminated water, especially during monsoon. If left unchecked, the sumps get filled with contaminated water, the residents said. Renuka Prasad, founder president of Shanthinagar Residents' Welfare Association, said that despite bringing the matter to the notice of local MLA NA Harris and BWSSB officials several times, nothing has been done to rectify the problem. 'In the WhatsApp Group of the association, some residents have complained that they face health problems such as diarrhoea frequently due to water contamination. The problem should be addressed at the earliest,' Prasad said. Another resident said that the locality has been getting contaminated water for the past 10 years. BWSSB offers only temporary solutions such as cleaning sumps whenever contaminated water is supplied. 'We need a permanent solution. We can't get water pumped out of our sumps at regular intervals. The foul smell because of contaminated water is unbearable. If the civic officials and people's representatives are serious about the problem, they should get an FIR registered against the local BWSSB engineers under the Disaster Management Act,' a senior citizen of the locality said. People who have rented houses in the locality are planning to move away because of this problem. It is really surprising that the problem has not been fixed even after 10 years, a landlord in the locality said. Nagaraj, executive engineer of BWSSB, Shanthi Nagar, said the water and sewage lines in the area were laid long ago. The problem is because of this. 'Work to fix the problem will be taken up under Unaccounted For Water (UFW) that aims at cutting down wastage of water and tenders will be invited soon. The sewage line from here, which is connected to the Intermediate Sewage Pumping Station (ISPS) near Shanthi Nagar Bus Depot, may have a problem. Work on ISPS is almost complete. In a month, all issues pertaining to water and sewage lines will be sorted out,' he said.
