Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is now under legal scrutiny as an environmental activist issues a formal notice, urging the removal of lights and wires adorning trees citywide. The legal communication emphasises the activist’s concern that the illumination, initially deemed as temporary embellishment for festivals and religious observances, is becoming a seemingly permanent fixture in certain locations.
Highlighting specific areas such as Malabar Hill, Walkeshwar, and Breach Candy, the notice underscores a stretch of trees illuminated for several months, raising questions about the civic body’s adherence to sustainable urban beautification practices. This move follows earlier criticism from both citizens and environmental activists directed at BMC’s practice of wrapping and draping lights and wires around trees.
The legal notice serves as a formal challenge to BMC’s beautification initiatives, prompting a re-evaluation of the environmental impact and the duration of such decorations. As the civic body navigates this legal scrutiny, the episode sheds light on the delicate balance between aesthetic enhancements and ecological considerations in Mumbai’s urban development. This legal intervention marks a significant development in the ongoing discourse surrounding the environmental impact of urban beautification efforts, urging authorities to re-evaluate their approach and ensure sustainable practices align with the city’s environmental ethos.
Activist Rohit Joshi, on whose behalf the notice has been served, said wires and lighting are detrimental to the health of the tree and its presence is disruptive to birds at the time of nest building and roosting. Besides, the bright lights are also disorienting to migratory birds, it states. “The presence of wires and lighting are extremely disruptive to birds at the time of their nest building and roosting. The bright lights are also disorienting to migratory birds. Disruption to the natural habitat of birds also has a proportional impact on insects and rodents on trees, which can compromise the health of trees and also consequently cause nuisance to the people residing in the vicinity of the affected trees,” said Joshi. The notice, served by lawyer Ronita Bhattacharya Bector, also stated that lighting on these trees also causes severe disruption to the ability of residents, who live in proximity of such trees, to sleep. Dilip Shenai, ecologist, said, “Trees are light-dependent organisms, so any kind of exposure to artificial light is going to adversely impact the overall productivity of that particular plant species, thereby, the species does not carry out the main purpose of giving us optimum levels of oxygen.”
BMC superintendent of gardens, Jitendra Pardeshi, said, “We will take action, as per Tree Act, wherever, it is necessary.” BMC commissioner and administrator IS Chahal defended the move to wrap trees with lights and said, “Similar wrapped lighting on trees has been a practice in many countries of the world for many years.” The notice also pointed out that various courts in the country have taken note of the fact that lighting and wires on trees are detrimental to the health of trees.
