921 trees in Kurla to go for Metro-2B

The earmarked trees are spread out on two plots along SG Barve Road, with 792 trees forming an urban grove on around three acres of land between Kurla and Tilak Nagar railway stations, just adjacent to the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus flyover near the Mother Dairy staff quarters

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Tree Authority (MSTA) on Friday considered a proposal by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to cut down 921 trees in central Mumbai, to make way for the Metro-2B line which will connect DN Nagar to Mandale.

921 trees in Kurla to go for Metro-2B

The move has drawn concern from environmentalists, who say this cluster of trees harbours a rich biodiversity of birds and reptiles and is one of the last remaining green patches in the region.

The earmarked trees are spread out on two plots along SG Barve Road, with 792 trees forming an urban grove on around three acres of land between Kurla and Tilak Nagar railway stations, just adjacent to the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus flyover near the Mother Dairy staff quarters.

According to the agenda for the MSTA’s Friday meeting, the trees will be felled for “Metro line construction, architectural finishings and steel roof structures.”

Jitendra Pardeshi, head of the BMC’s gardens department, is yet to respond to a request for comment from Hindustan Times. HT is also awaiting a comment from the MMRDA, which is executing the Metro-2B line.

Atharva Chavan, a life-long Kurla resident and student of zoology from Kirti College, Dadar, who frequents the area and has been planning to write his master’s dissertation on its local biodiversity, said, “I have counted 12 species of birds here, including kingfishers, coppersmith barbets, purple sunbirds, fantails, prinias and robins, in addition to reptiles like geckos and skinks that bask here in the daytime.”

“Such species are able to adapt to a city environment precisely because they can take shelter in such isolated green spaces, and they will surely be displaced if the trees here are chopped in such a large number. You will see these species in Aarey Colony or Sanjay Gandhi National Park, but they are not easily spotted in other parts of the city. If these trees are cleared it will also affect my master’s dissertation,” Chavan added.

Yash Agarwal, an environmentalist with Fridays for Future (Mumbai), who has also visited the area, said, “The place has a very dense green cover, and it is a low-lying area where water fills up during the monsoons. We have seen time and again how such spaces get concretised and lead to flooding in their immediate vicinity. There are also eight heritage trees among the 921 which are proposed to be cut down. It is shocking that the MSTA, whose job it is to preserve green cover, continues to sanction proposal after proposal allowing for more trees to be felled.”