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Over 700 trees are at risk of being chopped down to make way for the ‘yard’ of the Bhopal Metro. These trees line the posterior boundary of a colony named Green Meadows in Bhopal’s Arera Hills area. It is adjoining the old Bhopal locality of Jehangirabad. Not just Green Meadows colony but shanties and tenements next to it are also threatened by the proposed Metro yard.
Earlier a stud farm, the wide open expanse, spread over several acres, is now being used by local people to play cricket and other sports. Children also frequent the area regularly to fly kites.
The residents of Green Meadows Housing Society and members of its RWA say that just by doing some minor adjustments to the layout of the proposed Metro yard, several hundred trees will be saved. This will not only help maintain ecological balance in the area but also provide much-needed respite from heat during the scorching summers typical of Central India, where temperatures sometimes touch 45 degrees Celsius.
However, groundwork on the project has already begun. When Magpie News visited the site on Monday, April 25, there were two JCB machines digging up the earth and breaking boulders. Numbering of trees that are to be cut down had already been done.
Colony residents could be seen holding banners and staging a protest against the project on Monday evening. Despite repeated attempts by them at dissuading the execution of the proposed project, there seems to be no ray of hope in sight. The Green Meadows Society is now planning to approach the National Green Tribunal to prevent the damage to ecology and vegetation due to the proposed project.
The Bhopal Metro (also known as the Bhoj Metro) is an under construction rapid transit system intended to serve Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state. The total system consists of 6 corridors covering a distance of 104.87 kilometres. The first phase of the Bhopal Metro project consists of 28 km of Line 2 & 5 being under construction. The project will cost ₹80 billion (US$1.0 billion) approximately. There will be three types of run – on road, on bridges, and underground in some locations.