Tree-cutting for Metro-4: 10-ha plot for compensatory plantation, TMC tells HC

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday informed the Bombay high court (HC) that it has earmarked a 10-hectare (ha) plot exclusively from transplanting trees

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday informed the Bombay high court (HC) that it has earmarked a 10-hectare (ha) plot exclusively from transplanting trees uprooted for the Metro-4 line.

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The civic body said it would be making compensatory plantations in lieu of trees to be cut for the Metro line connecting Wadala with Kasarvadavali, Thane.

Senior advocate SM Gorwadkar, representing the civic body, said the plot will not be used for any other purpose. He said that about 1,000 to 1,100 trees can be planted on a hectare, and 500 to 600 adult trees can be transplanted in the same space.

Gorwadkar was responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Thane resident Rohit Joshi, challenging permissions granted by TMC’s tree authority to cut 36 trees and transplant over 900 more for an eight-km patch along the proposed Metro-4 line.

Joshi’s counsel, senior advocate Gayatri Singh, pointed out that the tree-cutting permissions were granted in breach of provisions of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. She alleged that the work on the Metro line was being done haphazardly, without proper planning.

Acting on the PIL, another bench had, on September 30, restrained the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) from cutting or transplanting any further trees for Metro-4.

The division bench of justice SC Dharmadhikari and justice RI Chagla, however, felt that restraint was not in the public’s interest, especially when the city desperately needed to augment its public transport system.

At the same time, the bench said the concerns for ecology and environment cannot be brushed aside. The judges said they will ensure the transplantation and compensatory plantation are supervised by the forest department and tree authority. The court restrained TMC from putting the 10-ha plot to any other use and said it will also order MMRDA to plant two trees for every tree lost in transplantation.