The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) has proposed to replant 119 of the 257 required trees uprooted to construct stations for the Metro 3 Line (Colaba- Bandra- Seepz).
The submission was made before the Bombay High Court Metro-3 Tree Committee headed by two sitting judges – Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sarang Kotwal. MMRCL also claimed that it will take four months to geo-tag the trees it transplanted/re-planted, which have had a 35% survival rate. The committee was formed following a plea by Nina Verma and Parvin Jehangir, along with activist Zoru Bhathena, highlighting the damage that would be caused to the environment due to axing of over 5,000 trees for the project. This committee was to look into the tree cover removed by MMRCL for the line. In case of any anomalies, the matter was to be referred back to the court.
A report was submitted by the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) after visiting the metro stations with MMRCL personnel and petitioners. The team visited several stations and surveyed the status of trees and the space available for planting trees. The team reported that Metro has not planted a single tree shown in the proposed tree plantation plan map. For instance, there was a total tree cover on both the sides of the road at Grant Road but there has been no restoration. “No space is left on footpaths to replant trees,” the report added.
As per the Metro, though, the plantation cannot be started as the construction activity is not yet completed. It assured that the plantation would be completed in six months. MMRCL also informed the HC committee that it has replanted many trees that were axed earlier and geotagged them, adding that it would take four more months to geotag the remaining trees and to put a QR code for details of trees and earlier location. The report, however, states that in reality no proper geotagging has been done. “During the site visit at Sanjay Gandhi National Park the MMRCL officials were not able to identify/ differentiate the trees planted by them, though the trees were geo-tagged,” the report added. The HC committee has asked the MMRCL to start the geotagging process and take suggestions on how it can be geotagged better.
