Environmental activists from Parisara Ulivigagi Kriya Samithi, a coalition of green groups, temporarily stopped the road-widening work on Hyder Ali Road in Nazarbad on Thursday. Their protest aimed to secure a clear commitment from civic officials to plant saplings along the roadside.
Hyder Ali Road had earlier drawn public attention when authorities felled 40 trees in April to expand the stretch. According to activists, regulations require that multiple saplings be planted to compensate for each tree removed during development. Since no such steps were implemented, they decided to launch the demonstration.
The protest was led by notable figures, including ‘Parisarakkagi Naavu’ state president A.T. Ramaswamy, general secretary Parashurame Gowda, PUCL Mysuru president Kamal Gopinath, Parisara Balaga’s Kamakshi Gowda, Smitha, Gantaiaiah, Clean Mysore Foundation’s Leela Venkatesh and Leela Shivakumar, and Dalit Panthers Association president Kiran Kumar, among others.
The demonstrators demanded that a dedicated tree park with about 400 saplings be developed in line with the guidelines for compensatory plantation. They also insisted that any traffic surveys and studies used to justify the widening project be publicly released for review.
Following discussions, Mysuru City Corporation executive engineer Madhusudhan visited the protest site and assured the activists that road expansion would be completed within six months. He further promised that 150 new saplings would be planted along the stretch. Satisfied with this commitment, the activists ended their protest, Kamal Gopinath confirmed.