Public take out candlelight vigil against axing of trees in Mysuru

The public taking part in a candlelight vigil on Hyder Ali Road in Mysuru on Friday evening to pay tribute to 40 fully grown trees felled by authorities.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

The public taking part in a candlelight vigil on Hyder Ali Road in Mysuru on Friday evening to pay tribute to 40 fully grown trees felled by authorities.
| Photo Credit:
M.A. Sriram

A large number of people from different walks of life turned up on Hyder Ali Road in the city on Friday evening for a candlelight vigil to pay tributes to the 40 fully grown trees recently axed by the authorities.

Men, women, and children reached the spot just before sunset to show their solidarity with the Parisara Ulivigagi Kriya Samithi or Save Environment Action Committee activists, who had called for a silent candlelight vigil against the “outrageous assault on the green cover” of the city.

Several citizens wore black bands and held aloft placards while many chose to perform rituals at the stumps of the axed trees to “mourn their death”. Many participants took selfies and videos of the candlelight protest and shared them on social media platforms.

Convenor of the Save Environment Action Committee Parashurame Gowda, who addressed the gathering at the circle near the office of the Superintendent of Police, administered an oath to protect the environment. The participants pledged to preserve trees for the sake of humanity.

MP for Mysuru Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and MLA for Krishnaraja T.S. Srivatsa also turned up at the protest site to condemn the chopping of the trees.

While writer and theatre person Preethi Nagaraj questioned the absence of Tanveer Sait, the MLA representing the area, at the protest, Save Environment Action Committee member Kamal Gopinath, who is also the president of Mysuru chapter of People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), took serious exception to the presence of Mr. Yaduveer and Mr. Srivatsa at the protest.

He said the Parisara Ulivigagi Kriya Samithi had deliberately decided not to invite any elected representatives as they held them responsible for the “carnage”.

“I am elated at the tremendous response from Mysoreans to the call to pay a candlelight silent homage to trees that were cut on the Hyder Ali Road. The citizens exhibited tremendous dignity and discipline. But this was spoiled for a brief while by the sloganeering supporters of Mr. Srivatsa and Mr. Yaduveer,” Mr. Kamal Gopinath said.

“We condemn the sloganeering and this cheap effort at securing political mileage by the MLA and the MP”, he said in a statement here on Friday.