TMC chief asks officials to deconcretise over 7,000 trees by month-end

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in India has been directed to de-concretise the bases of trees in the city by July 31, following a high court order. The court had granted the TMC 45 days to de-concretise the roots of 7,396 trees, with the process due to be completed before the next hearing on August 1. The TMC will leave a three feet by three feet space around each tree and fill it with soil. The move comes after a petition highlighted the lack of appropriate measures to maintain and secure trees in Thane.

Thane: Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) commissioner Abhijit Bangar on Monday directed ward officials to start de-concretisation of tree bases and complete it by July 31.

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This came after the Bombay high court recently passed an order, while hearing a PIL seeking directions to the TMC regarding the process of de-concretising the bases of trees in Thane.

The HC had granted time to the TMC to submit information about the de-concretisation works. The TMC advocate had requested a time of 45 days to de-concretising the roots of 7,396 trees.

On Monday, the civic commissioner held an emergency meeting and directed officials concerned to start the work and complete it by July 31, before the next HC hearing scheduled for August 1.

A TMC spokesperson said, “The work will be done around a 400-km stretch. Around three feet by three feet space around a tree will be left open and filled with soil.”

Rohit Joshi, an environmentalist from Thane and one of the co-petitioners, said, “The TMC had claimed there are around 7,000 trees, but in reality, we have lakhs of trees as per our data. We will keep an eye on the work so that none of the trees are harmed. This work should have been done before. The TMC has already lost about 100 trees in the last week due to inclement weather.”

The petitioners had approached the HC pointing out that the TMC has no policy to compensate victims of tree collapses. The petitioners had also highlighted that the tree fall incidents in the city are a result of a lack of appropriate steps to maintain and secure trees. It was also mentioned that one of the most common causes of tree falls is the impact of concretisation in and around the roots of the trees.