BENGALURU: In a discreetly planned operation, the state government has begun cutting 15 century-old trees in the premises of the Kumara Krupa guesthouse to make way for a nine-storey building complex for VVIPs.The Public Works Department has roped in BG Shirke Construction Technology for the building that will house 202 rooms, including 112 VVIP rooms and 85 guestrooms at a cost of Rs 80 crore, bang in chief minister Siddaramaiah 's residential neighbourhood.When ET visited the spot on Wednesday, only three trees remained.The new guesthouse is coming up on a four acre land that was lush with banyan, jackfruit, mango , neem, avenue and other tree varieties. Authorities have decided to cull the trees against the reported original plan of razing an annex that had come up in 1970."The project and the cutting of trees have been cleared by the BBMP Forest Cell and the forest department," PWD Assistant Executive Engineer NS Sathish said.BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests ND Sudarshan defended: "We have to give permission for developmental works. It is imminent for trees to be cut for development to take place."The Kumara Krupa guesthouse was a private residence of Seshadri Iyer , diwan of Mysuru from 1883 to 1901. The original structure had 12 rooms, while the structure that came up in 1970 provided 39 more rooms. The entire guesthouse is maintained by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms. The construction is on right beside the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (CKP)."Everyday we hear the sound of trees being cut. We feel someone is dying right in front of us and we cannot do anything about it," said Prakruthi N, a second-year student with CKP College of Fine Arts. "The trees gave us a cool breeze and the sight of rare birds," she rued.Leo F Saldanha of the Environment Support Group condemned the cutting of the trees. "These are heritage trees planted by Mirza Ismail (diwan of Mysuru from 1926 to 1941) and Seshadri Iyer. There is a High Court order that requires authorities to hold a public hearing before cutting trees. They are doing it silently fearing opposition," he said.