TS starts on SRDP route

City to approach Green Tribunal asking vacation of stay on project

The state government has initiated steps to launch works on the Strategic Road Development Programme to build a skyway near KBR Park in July.

As part of this, the government has approached the National Green Tribunal asking it to vacate the stay that was ordered on the project in May. The government has decided not to challenge the stay in the High Court and wait till July 1, when the NGT is expected to take up the case after the vacation.

The government is confident of securing the NGT approval on the grounds that only 1,394 trees around the park will be axed or translocated and not a single tree inside the park will be touched, as claimed by environmentalists. The government will also plant 25 lakh saplings in the city on July 11 to increase green cover.

The government has planned to build a multilevel flyover around KBR Park to ease the traffic congestion and has invited tenders.

The project has been facing stiff resistance from activists who have claimed that nearly 4,000 trees would be axed and that the KBR Park faces an environmental threat. Work was halted after some of them approached the NGT and the High Court.

“We have filed a petition in the NGT seeking a vacation on stay on the SRDP. It is expected to come up for hearing in the first week of July,” said municipal administration special chief secretary M.G. Gopal.

He rubbished claims of activists that nearly 4,000 trees would be axed.

“Only 1,394 trees are marked, located outside the park. We will translocate trees, wherever possible,” he said.

He continued: “The traffic volume on the KBR main junction is about 1.02 lakh passenger cars per day, which is likely to go up to 2.23 lakh, a massive increase in just 10 years. The project will actually help the city reduce pollution by a massive 55 per cent. Also, due to congestion at six traffic junctions around KBR Park, a total of 32,096 litres of fuel is being wasted every day due to idling of vehicles resulting in the emission of 107.92 tonnes of CO2.”

We have filed a petition in the NGT seeking a vacation on stay on the SRDP. It is expected to come up for hearing in the first week of July — municipal administration special chief secretary M.G. GOPAL,