Trees older than 50 years chopped to widen 50-ft road between Nexus Mall and SP Office

Mysuru: In a staggering blow to Mysuru city’s urban ecology, 45 fully grown, shade-giving trees — each more than 50 years old — were felled early this morning to make way for a road-widening project.

The mass tree cutting, carried out by the very Government that regularly boasts of greening the city through plantation drives, has left residents and environmentalists stunned.

The operation was jointly executed by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and the Forest Department, exposing the hypocrisy at the heart of the city’s so-called ‘green mission.’

While infrastructure upgrades may be inevitable, the manner and scale of this deforestation have sparked outrage. Residents and green activists warn that this reckless move undermines decades of natural growth, erodes biodiversity and strips the area of much-needed shade in a city that is facing increasingly hot days.

The 45 trees — spanning multiple species — were axed in the Mohammad Sait Block, from Nexus Mall to Venkatalingaiah Circle (SP Office Circle), all to convert a 50-ft stretch into a 100-ft road.

The idea is to connect this road to the Mahadevapura Main Road, a double road. However, locals and regular commuters argue that traffic flow in the area has never necessitated such drastic expansion.

Shockingly, the Forest Department gave its nod based on a request from the MCC’s Assistant Executive Engineer of the Horticulture Department. The tree-cutting contract was handed to Syed Mohammad, who was asked to pay a paltry Rs. 2.9 lakh for both felling and afforestation — an amount activists deem laughable in comparison to the ecological loss.

The operation was carried out with military precision. The road was blocked in the wee hours, high-powered mechanical saws brought in under cover of darkness and within minutes, 45 green giants were reduced to stumps.

Trunks and branches were chopped, loaded onto trucks and carted away — all before the city awoke. Sunday was deliberately chosen, activists allege, to avoid public resistance.

“This was not development. This was destruction planned in silence,” said an activist, speaking to Star of Mysore. “There is barely any traffic here, even during peak hours. Vehicles have always moved smoothly from Mahadevapura across Gandhinagar, Bengaluru Road and the SP Office. This widening was completely unnecessary,” he added.

Residents also questioned why authorities didn’t consider more responsible alternatives. “There is ample vacant space alongside the Karnataka Police Academy. A service road could have been built there without touching a single tree,” said a commuter.

As expected, officials from the MCC and Forest Department remained unreachable, with phone calls going unanswered.

Environmental groups are now urging the Government to rethink its approach and adopt sustainable, eco-sensitive urban planning. The call is loud and clear: Development must not come at the cost of destroying the city’s green cover.