"Bengaluru Tunnel Project Sparks Urban Tree Felling Dispute"
Urban heat island effect
localized temperature rise in built-up areas linked to loss of vegetation and green cover.
Ecosystem services
benefits nature provides, such as carbon sequestration, oxygen release, and temperature regulation.
Urban trees in India fall under a patchwork of state-specific protection laws rather than the central Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, which mainly governs notified forest land. In Karnataka, felling of trees on both public and private urban land is regulated by the Karnataka (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1976, which requires a designated tree officer's permission and a mandatory public notice inviting objections before large-scale felling is approved. Bengaluru's civic governance was itself restructured through the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, which created the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) as the apex planning and coordination body, with the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike now functioning as one of several corporations under it. Large infrastructure works such as road and tunnel projects usually fall outside the central Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, since that framework focuses on categories like mining, thermal power, and large real-estate projects. This leaves urban green-cover protection dependent almost entirely on the rigour of local tree-felling permission processes, a gap that recurs in conflicts over Mumbai's Aarey Colony and Delhi's Ridge forest.
Trees in dense urban settings provide measurable ecosystem services: carbon sequestration, oxygen release, soil and groundwater stabilisation, and moderation of local air temperature through shade and transpiration. A stretch with over 70 distinct tree species packed into roughly two kilometres reflects decades of deliberate green-space retention in an otherwise built-up city, and such species diversity supports a correspondingly wide range of birds, insects, and small mammals that depend on specific trees for food or nesting. Removing a large, contiguous block of mature trees does not just affect the immediate project footprint. Loss of canopy cover reduces evapotranspiration and shade, which can raise local surface and air temperatures, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect; this warming can also radiate outward and affect neighbourhood areas well beyond the cleared stretch. …
Examine the status of forest resources of India and its resultant impact on climate change.
Consider the following statements regarding the regulation of tree felling in urban Karnataka:
1.Felling of trees on private land in cities requires prior permission from a designated tree officer.
2.The law mandates a public notice inviting objections before large-scale tree felling is approved.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding India's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006:
1.It mandates prior environmental clearance for large-scale mining projects.
2.It mandates prior environmental clearance for thermal power plants above a specified capacity.
3.It mandates prior central environmental clearance for all urban road and tunnel projects, irrespective of size.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Match List I (Ecosystem Service of Urban Trees) with List II (Description) and select the correct answer using the code given below:
List I:
A.Carbon sequestration
B.Transpiration
C.Root systems
D.Canopy cover
List II:
1.Provides shade and moderates local air temperature
2.Absorbs atmospheric CO2 and stores carbon in biomass
3.Stabilises soil and aids groundwater recharge
4.Releases water vapour, cooling the surrounding air
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which oversees urban planning and infrastructure coordination in Bengaluru, was constituted under which of the following?
Want the full note, Prelims Facts & MCQ answers?
Create a free account — takes less than a minute.
Create free account