Kumari Palany & Co

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More than 2000 trees to be cut for constructing Metro phase-2

Posted on: 26/Apr/2019 9:39:38 AM
How would you react if you come across the news that more than 2000 trees would be cut for the sake of construction of metro phase-2 in Chennai. Shocked isnt it!!

The news is as many as 2034 trees in Chennai would be axed for constructing metro phase-2 of 118.9 km network. It is known that metro phase-2 work would begin later in this 2019. It is now revealed that CMRL or Chennai Metro Rail Limited would spend an amount of Rs 3.8 crores to plant the saplings so that the loss could be made up. In corridor-5, nearly 55% of trees would be demolished and it is the largest of the 3 lines planned over a distance of 47 km. This would link Madhavaram to Sholinganallur via CMBT is known.

Important information collected is it would link several fringes on the western part of Chennai like Retteri, Kolathur, Adambakkam, Madipakkam, Kovilambakkam and Medavakkam. Panagal Park is famous in Chennai and this park and another one would be taken over to construct underground metro stations.

It is said that the trees would make way for alignment and for depots at places like Madhavaram, SIPCOT and Poonamallee bypass. As many as 15 native species in the localities along the alignment would be affected and this was according to a survey conducted by RITES. The various species of trees to be affected would be mango, peepal, neem, country almond, palmyra balm etc. For the proposed metro station, a 7104 sq ft forest near the Medavakkam Koot Road bus stop on corridor -5 would be taken over.

There are many advantages associated with the green cover and all those would be lost when the green cover gets replaced by concrete structures. There would be decreased carbon dioxide and low oxygen levels when more than 2000 trees get demolished. The point is CMRL would plant 12 saplings for every tree cut. For the development of non-forest land, CMRL would spend an additional amount of Rs 2.5 lakhs. As per some experts it is clear that transplantation of the existing trees instead of planting saplings would be better to save greenery. This was due to the fact that Chennai city do not have enough space now for planting new saplings.

It was pointed out by a retired MCC botany professor, MR. D. Narasimhan that TN had achieved 70% success rate of survival of transplanted trees but much depends on the species, sizes and the damage it had undergone.