Juhu residents clip reckless pruning, push green revival

The initiative was launched after citizens documented what they described as indiscriminate and excessive pre-monsoon trimming along several streets in the Juhu Scheme area

MUMBAI: Residents of Gulmohar Colony and Juhu Scheme – localities prized for their tree-lined streets – have managed to halt reckless tree pruning by civic contractors and are now working with the BMC to ensure a more measured approach to pre-monsoon trimming. What’s more, they are also attempting to restore some of the neighbourhood’s lost green cover.

Juhu residents clip reckless pruning, push green revival

The initiative was launched after citizens documented what they described as indiscriminate and excessive pre-monsoon trimming along several streets in the Juhu Scheme area.

Residents said aggressive trimming is leaving trees deformed and structurally imbalanced. According to architect and urban designer, Samarth Das, who is leading the citizens’ initiative under the ‘Keep Juhu Clean’ campaign, the contractor’s teams are supposed to work under the supervision of officials of the civic garden department. Only, they don’t.

“Instead of trimming trees from the top, branches are cut from the bottom, leaving trees angled and weakened with heavy canopies at the top. Even small twigs and branches are being cut up to heights of 10 to 12 metres,” Das said.

On April 26, the BMC’s K west ward officials met with citizen groups including the Gulmohar Area Societies Welfare Group and Keep Juhu Clean, and chalked out a corrective plan. As tree-trimming paused, the civic garden department carried out a survey to identify only those trees that required pruning. The findings were together reviewed by residents and officials before any trimming was approved.

A follow-up inspection May 9 saw residents and civic officials walking through the neighbourhood for around two hours, examining trees marked for pruning and issuing instructions on the extent of trimming required.

Das said this exercise has significantly reduced the number of trees identified for pruning. During inspections, residents also found that some housing societies were directly approaching contractors with requests for additional trimming.

“We informed societies that any trimming requests must follow due process and comply with the law. Contractors have been instructed not to act on pressure or informal demands from societies,” he said.

Das said the neighbourhood has lost a large number of trees in the last four to five years, due to redevelopment and concretisation. Many trees removed during road works were never replaced. As a result, streets that once had dense green cover are now barren, he said.

To address this, the BMC has identified more than 75 locations suitable for saplings to be planted alongside cement-concrete roads. Of these, around 35 locations have been shortlisted for specially designed tree pits ahead of the monsoon. Residents and civic officials also discussed suitable tree species such as peepal, tamhan and bahava for the area.

Vikrant Chedda, a JVPD resident associated with Keep Juhu Clean, said, “Contractors need proper monitoring from someone qualified to decide how and where trees should be trimmed, removing only dangerous portions. These decisions affect trees that may have been growing for 60 years.”

A civic official from the K west ward garden department said, “Tree trimming will be done requirement-wise and on a case-to-case basis. Cement concretisation has created imbalance in several trees and we will work towards strengthening them. The objective is to increase green cover in the Juhu area.”