Mysuru: Close on the heels of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and Forest Department felling over 40 trees along Hyder Ali Road — from Kalikamba Temple to SP Office Circle — under the pretext of road widening, fresh concerns have emerged over plans to axe another 25 fully grown trees along Uthanahalli Road near the welcome arch.

Environmental activists, posting photos of the trees already marked for felling, revealed that the entire stretch has been levelled and each of the 25 trees numbered — indicating that they are next in line to be cut down.

Activists alleged that just like the 40 trees on Hyder Ali Road were brought down using mechanical saws under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Apr. 13, the trees on Uthanahalli Road are also likely to be felled in a similar clandestine operation.

Calling it the “second massacre of trees,” activists are preparing to launch a widespread agitation to prevent further destruction of Mysuru’s green cover. They have demanded that MCC and Forest Dept. immediately halt any such move that would irreversibly damage the city’s environmental fabric.