Protest against proposal to fell trees on road

The Kerala Nadi Samrakshana Samithi with the help of residents’ associations is planning to launch a protest against the proposal to cut down around 800 trees on Necklace Road (the junction of Easthill Ganapathikavu Road and Karapparmba-Kundooparamba road) to beautify the stretch.

Secretary of the Samithi T.V. Rajan said that the proposal was meaningless as there was no bus route there.

Protest meeting planned

The Samithi, under the banner of ‘Vriksha Committee’, is planning to hold a protest meeting in front of the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation Office at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday demanding the withdrawal of the proposal. In the forefront of the protest will be autorikshaw drivers at the junction, who had played a major role in planting many trees on the stretch.

“They had watered it using ice collected from shops, when watering was difficult during summer,” Mr. Rajan said.

The students of Ramakrishna Mission School, whose Prithvi Eco Club had also planted over 300 trees on the stretch, will also join the protest. “The proposal is to increase the width of the road from 6 metres to 7 metres. No acquisition is required here, but most of the trees on the roadside will face the axe due to it, especially those next to the footpath,” he said adding that the trees were planted there as per the directions of the Social Forestry Department and following an assurance that the road would never be widened.

The Samithi had discussed the issue with MLA A. Pradeep Kumar.

Their demand is that a joint inspection led by environmentalists and officials should be held before deciding on the trees to be cut down.