The Hindu 04.11.2013
Sangha removes saplings planted near premises
Bowing to public pressure, Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha
(KVS) authorities removed the saplings which were planted on the
footpath adjacent to their premises here on Sunday.
KVS
authorities removed the saplings and paved the way for the smooth
movement of pedestrians. The sangha came under criticism after its
executive committee member and activist Shankar Kumbi illegally dug up
the footpath to plant saplings.
Hubli-Dharwad
Municipal Corporation (HDMC) zonal officer V. Shridhar confirmed that
KVS authorities removed the saplings. He said HDMC had issued a notice
asking the KVS to remove the saplings and reconstruct the footpath. HDMC
engineers would conduct an inspection to see the footpath was
reconstructed properly. Otherwise, HDMC would impose a penalty on KVS,
he said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank,
which provided the tree guards to Mr. Kumbi, condemned the misuse of
their help. Public relations officer Ullas Gunaga told
The Hindu
that the bank provided help to plant saplings in open public places, but
damaging the footpath or any other civic amenity to plant saplings
would not be tolerated. Mr. Kumbi had damaged the bank’s reputation, he
said.
Mr. Gunaga said the bank took the incident
seriously and had asked Mr. Kumbi to inform bank officials in advance
about the locations selected for planting saplings.
