MMRCL has been making tall claims about planting 24000 trees in Mumbai. This move was touted as their immense concern for the environment and also as compensation against cutting trees in Aarey forest for Metro car shed. But the ground reality is out which is utterly shocking and disappointing.
A high court-appointed inspection committee found that around 64% of trees transplanted by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) during Metro 3 work had died. The trees were transplanted by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) at seven different locations inside Aarey itself. The sites of transplantation included Unit 20, Gate 20, Gate 25/6, the location opposite picnic point, next to Mithi River/close to Car Depot site, Durga Nagar and Gate 32.
Total trees transplanted by Metro3 inside Aarey = 1060 trees. Of these 680 are dead.
Location-wise status of transplanted trees
1. Unit 20: 399 transplanted - 235 dead
2. Gate 20: 81 transplanted- 51 dead
3. Gate 25/26: 64 transplanted- 46 dead
4. Opposite Picnic Point: 41 transplanted - 29 dead
5. Next to Mithi/Depot plot: 461 transplanted - 310 dead
6. Durganagar: 10 transplanted - 9 dead
7. Gate 32: 4 transplanted - 0 dead
City-based activist Zoru Bhathena, who has been fighting to save the trees inside Aarey Milk colony, and visited the transplantation sites on Tuesday, said, “The authorities have clearly not taken proper care of the transplanted trees. Aarey is a fertile land where trees grow freely but it has turned into a graveyard. This exposes the claims made by MMRC that it was taking care of the trees." Bhathena also said that he had in the past too highlighted the negligence of authorities towards the trees.
BMC and MMRC have a very poor history of tree transplantation drives. The BMC’s tree authority permitted the felling of 25,018 trees between 2010 and 2016, revealed a right-to-information (RTI) response. However, it failed to provide records for the number of trees replanted or transplanted in their place over seven years.
Earlier the Bombay high court-appointed committee remarked that MMRC had not carried out the transplantation of trees affected by the Metro-3 project efficiently, that many transplanted trees did not show signs of sprouting, while the metro rail body has also delayed geo-tagging the affected trees, as recommended by the committee. It slammed MMRC for not using modern machines to transplant trees. It noted that more than 50 per cent of the trees did not survive.
It is important for citizens and decision-makers to know that a FOREST CAN NEVER BE COMPENSATED WITH NEW PLANTATIONS. So, if MMRC is justifying destroying forest by planting thrice or ten times more trees than the trees cut is only a blasphemy.
Structurally complex forest like Aarey that has taken centuries to be built cannot be substituted with new plantations. The mature trees of a forest existing in unison with their other indigenous colleagues have deep exotic root architectures that can sequester carbon (and other nutrients, plus water) more effectively than stand-alone trees which will be planted as a part of the compensatory plantation. Besides, the different sizes and shapes of the leaves in a forest ecosystem absorb different types of pollutants whose cumulative effect is seen in a cleaner, filtered, and cooler air in the area around the forest. To expect saplings to do the job of a full-grown tree is like expecting a newborn baby to take care of a family's expense just like the earning member. A sapling requires water, nutrients, and care before it becomes mature enough to perform the role of climate mitigation like its elderly counterparts.