Mumbai metro: trees felled for project yet to be compensated for

Four months after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority granted permission to the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) to cut 65 trees on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor, the MMOPL is yet to plant a single tree to replace those felled.

Four months after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority granted permission to the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) to cut 65 trees on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor, the MMOPL is yet to plant a single tree to replace those felled.

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Also, as demanded by tree authority committee member, Ameet Satam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the committee’s June 25 meeting, MMOPL has not submitted a report on the status of replacing the 65 felled trees.

On April 2, MMOPL got permission to cut 65 trees across 13 locations on the VAG corridor. They also obtained permission to transplant 66 trees on the same corridor while 186 trees were to be retained.

The report on plantation was to be submitted to the tree authority during their August 3 meeting. But last week, tree authority officials gave MMOPL an extension till the next meeting to submit the report.

“If they fail to provide the report in the next meeting in September, they will be penalised. However, they have given a report on the transplantation,” said Kamlashankar Yadav, superintendent of gardens, BMC.

MMOPL officials said that in June they sent a letter to the BMC apprising them about the details of cutting and transplanting trees. When asked about the delay in planting trees in place of the 65 felled ones, MMOPL spokesperson said, “We have not replaced the trees yet since we have not found land for planting them.”

Sunil Limaye, director, SGNP said, “They (MMOPL) had approached us with their request to plant trees. We are allotting them land that was previously occupied by encroachers where they will plant 800 trees.”