Citizens of Mangaluru fear that three huge banyan trees offering plenty of shade to several buildings on Rosario Road in Mangaluru may be cut down to pave way for the four-lane concrete road being built under the Smart City Project.
Mangalore Smart City Ltd. (MSCL) is taking up the four-lane concrete road between Hamilton Circle and Rosario Junction, a distance of about 600 m. The banyan trees are standing near the Police Community Hall, Pandeshwar Head Post Office and Old Port Employees Apartment.
A senior freelancer said that he was surprised to see the concrete road being constructed avoiding the three trees. Not many people are using the road at present in view of the construction work; but he saw them on the way back from Pandeshwar Post Office. Though the trees appear to have been spared for now, there is no guarantee that they would remain there for ever, he felt. Rosario Church Road further connects Hoige Bazaar and Bolara and was being used by fish transporting vehicles from Old Bunder Fishing Harbour to neighbouring Kasargod via Mahakalipadpu Railway Level Crossing. Kiran Shetty, a resident of Hoige Bazaar, wondered the need for four-laning a 600-m road till Rosario Junction and said that vehicular movement has been sparse on the stretch.
He said that the trees have been offering shade to many buildings along the stretch, including the Police Community Hall, a few schools and the post office in the locality.
Denying that the trees would be cut down, MSCL Managing Director Mohammed Nazeer told The Hindu that the road was being made four-lane as per the Mangaluru City Corporation Master Plan. “It is for the city corporation to take a decision [on felling the trees],” he said.