Decades-old trees axed for BRTS route

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation's (SMC) BRTS cell has started a tree chopping exercise for the under construction BRTS phase (II) project from Vesu to Dumas after obtaining permission from the forest department.
Official sources said around 175 trees would be curt from Vesu to Dumas by the garden department under the supervision of the forest department officials.
Jatin Shah, city engineer and head of the BRTS cell, said, "The work on the BRTS route from Vesu to Dumas was going at a slow pace as we were awaiting permission from the forest department to chop the trees. The forest deparment has given us the go ahead to chop the trees. There are 175 trees on the BRTS stretch till Dumas that would be cut."
MHS Shaikh, environmentalist, told TOI, "We are not against chopping of trees coming in the way of development, but will this reduce vehicular traffic? Surat's tree cover is only 3 per cent, which is less compared to other cities in the state. What would the state government and the SMC do to increase the tree cover?"