BMC under fire for clearing mass tree cutting in 90 minutes

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court lambasted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority again on Wednesday on finding out that it had cleared 56 proposals

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court lambasted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority again on Wednesday on finding out that it had cleared 56 proposals to remove hundreds of trees during a 90 minute-long meeting.

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“The function of the tree authority is to save trees and not to allow the removal of a vast number of trees in such a fashion,” said the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Amjad Sayed.

“Practically hundreds of trees have been allowed to be cut down within a span of 60 to 90 minutes,” the judges said after the civic body informed them of the proceedings of its April 16 meeting.

The HC, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by city activist Raghunath Kottary, had on Tuesday also rapped the authority for failing to utilise its intellect before giving a thumbs-up to deforestation in the city.

It had ordered the BMC to report the duration of its meetings.

Accordingly, senior advocate Anil Sakhare, who represented the civic body, submitted the details of the meeting to the court on Wednesday.

Kottary, in his PIL filed through advocate Pandurang Pol, has complained about noncompliance of provisions of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.

Kottary, 51, a Malad resident, said officials of the tree authority routinely granted permissions to builders and developers, while utterly disregarding the legal provisions enacted to preserve and maintain green cover in the urban areas of the city.

He also cited an example of a large Goregaon plot, which belonged to Hindustan CibaGeigy Limited and had more than 5,000 trees.

He said that these trees were allowed to be cut after the land was sold to a renowned developer.

The BMC, in its reply, stated that the tree authority granted 19 permissions to the developer for cutting 1,196 trees and transplanting 623.It added that the developer planted 1,484 saplings on the plot to make up for the loss.

Besides, the developer has also planted 1,000 saplings in nearby areas within the limits of Aarey Milk Colony, said the civic body.