City-based NGO Watchdog Foundation on Tuesday accused Mumbai Metro of environmental destruction for pruning nearly 60 young gulmohar trees on the median between Marol Naka metro station and the Airport Road traffic signal.
Godfrey Pimenta, a trustee of the NGO, said, “Trees may be trimmed to remove dead branches. But this was not the case.” Mr. Pimenta said the trees were nearly four-foot tall, healthy and not an obstruction to traffic. The paring of the trees could result in stunting. Stalin Dayanand, director of NGO Vanashakti, said, “Gulmohars have lateral roots and won’t grow here because of the concrete around it.”
On December 12, Mr. Pimenta and another trustee, Nicholas Almeida, sent an e-mail requesting authorities to transplant the saplings and replace them with ornamental trees. The e-mail read, “When full-grown, gulmohars reaches a height of about 30 feet to 50 feet. The trees here will touch the track below the metro girders.” The email was sent to a senior official of Mumbai Metro, the Chief Minister’s Office, Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s Metropolitan Commissioner, U.P.S. Madan.
Biju Augustine, an environmentalist who works with the Save Aarey initiative, said, “If the trees are indeed gulmohars, then they do not belong there.” Anand Pendharkar, ecologist and director of Sprout Environment Trust, said, “If they have not taken permission from the BMC to prune the trees, then it is a crime.”
A Mumbai Metro One spokesperson said, “To beautify the surroundings, a wide range of trees were planted on the median along the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor of Mumbai Metro One. Only varieties that don’t grow beyond a certain height were planted. Mumbai Metro One also routinely undertakes periodic trimming of the foliage for smooth running of traffic.”
Mr. Augustine claimed the Metro has not planted any trees beyond the Marol Fire Brigade Junction, and is carrying out “compensatory plantation” for the trees that they have cut elsewhere.
