Over 35,000 people sign within 24 hours to save trees

Mysore/Mysuru: An online campaign has been launched against axing of hundreds of trees for the proposed Heli Tourism near Lalitha Mahal Palace that is  a butterfly zone. 

A petition posted on www.change.org, has garnered the support of over 35,279 people from all over the world. It is not known how many of them are Mysureans. 

The Heli Tourism project is the brainchild of Tourism Minister C.P. Yogeeshwar who has already held a couple of meetings and also inspected the  proposed spot twice.

Green activist M.K. Saptha Girish, who initiated this petition  against felling of trees, says that Mysuru needs environmentally sustainable tourism and not an environmentally destructive helipad near Lalitha  Mahal Palace.

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, Saptha Girish said that the trees have been numbered unscientifically. “Looking at the way trees have been numbered, it looks like they are cutting over 1,000 trees in an eco-sensitive zone. First of all who gave permission to number the trees? Scrapping the tree bark to put the numbers is a way to kill a tree. Have the authorities followed the procedure while numbering,” he questioned. 

“We are not against development — but development at what cost and at whose cost? Are there no alternatives? Why 1,000 trees have to be cut for a tourism project meant for the rich and the elite? We have enough space in Mysuru for the Heli Tourism project. We will not allow the trees to be cut,”  he reiterated. 

Environmentalists of Mysuru had planned to hold a novel protest through bird and butterfly watching near the proposed helipad area this morning. But it was cancelled following denial of permission by the Police in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and the Government guidelines banning all kinds of protests, dharnas and rallies till April 20. Instead, the environmentalists took the online route to vent their anger against the State Government’s decision to construct the helipad near Lalitha Mahal Palace.

The greens contended that if the helipad and docking stations were allowed near Lalitha Mahal Palace, density of traffic will increase in the surrounding areas. In the name of security for VVIPs, many more trees will be axed. In the interest of protection of greenery in City, it will be better to shift this project to the city outskirts, they said. They have also appealed to all citizens to raise their voice against this project which is detrimental to sustainable development of city.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the environmentalists are planning to move the Court against this project in a day or two. The overwhelming response for the online petition has boosted                   the cause.