Malabar Hill reservoir: Change of initial plans leading to more trees being cut, say citizens

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to cut 189 trees and transplant 200 others for the project. The information was revealed through documents accessed by activist Zoru Bhathena under the Right to Information Act

Mumbai: Activists and citizens objecting to the cutting of trees at Hanging Garden for the reconstruction of Malabar Hill reservoir have claimed that the initial repair plan in 2018 did not include the construction of a service road and a viewing gallery, which has led to more trees being axed.

“The original proposal was for a narrow new tank adjoining the existing reservoir. There was no proposal to construct a new road and go into Shantivan. This new narrow tank also proposed the removal of several massive trees. But, about a dozen. Not in hundreds,” Bhathena said, adding that in June 2023, the Water Supply Projects (WSP) department wrote to the gardens department and informed them that more trees would be axed, owing to a change of plans (HT PHOTO)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to cut 189 trees and transplant 200 others for the project. The information was revealed through documents accessed by activist Zoru Bhathena under the Right to Information Act.

“The original proposal was for a narrow new tank adjoining the existing reservoir. There was no proposal to construct a new road and go into Shantivan. This new narrow tank also proposed the removal of several massive trees. But, about a dozen. Not in hundreds,” Bhathena said, adding that in June 2023, the Water Supply Projects (WSP) department wrote to the gardens department and informed them that more trees would be axed, owing to a change of plans.

The letter from WSP to the gardens department stated, “Meanwhile, due to site constraints, the Malabar Hill reservoir (MHR) project is revised. An additional reservoir on the west side of the existing MHR (91 ML) and a valve gallery on the sloping Garden (on the East side) are included in the construction work. Due to this revision, some additional trees (are) getting affected due to this inclusion and on other hand some trees along walls were getting saved as some walls of existing reservoirs are now proposed to be retained.”

The information also revealed a detailed list of trees that will have to be cut, which includes some trees as old as 80 to 100 years. Of the 189 trees that are proposed to be cut, 27 of them are heritage trees. The data also revealed that of the total 389 trees that are proposed to be cut or transplanted have a cumulative age of 9,494 years.

Of the 389 trees, 186 trees are affected for constructing the new compartment of the reservoir, 83 for re-constructing the existing reservoir, 54 for constructing the new road and 55 for other works, while 11 are dead that will be removed.

When contacted, P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (Projects) refused to comment.

Suburban Mumbai’s guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha on October 10 had written to municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal asking him to amend the proposal to reconstruct the Malabar Hill reservoir. Residents are demanding that the reconstruction be scrapped, and an alternative location be found.

A senior BMC official on October 10 had said that there was no question of changing the plans at this stage. “We have clearly told the environmentalists, activists and their leaders that they must come up with sustainable alternatives. This is not sustainable. The solutions suggested must pass the hydraulic engineering model and this solution is just time pass. They can only delay the redevelopment, but they cannot avoid it.’’