India Times: Mumbai: Sunday, May 28, 2017.
The growth and development of Mumbai as a metropolitan city has been remarkable in the last two decades. The flare of urbanization has never stopped here. However, that has come with a heavy price - the destruction of a significant amount of flora and fauna inside the city as well as on the shoreline.
In what looks like the absolute sabotage of all the natural resources in the city, on 25 May, trees were chopped off for Metro Line 3 to be formed in Mumbai. Five activists were detained by cops, trying to imitate the remarkable ‘Chipko’ movement.
A significant number of citizens have been raising their voice against the chopping down on trees, calling for numerous marches that have proven to be nothing but futile. In a recent RTI report, it was revealed that 13 per cent of city’s trees has been chopped off only to create the Metro Line.
The activists are against the Supreme Court’s decision to have directly given Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) the permission to conduct the chopping down of trees. At the same time permission was given to citizens to approach a Committee set up by the Bombay High Court with their grievances.
Activist Vidya has been fighting to save the mangroves and natural heritage of the city for a long time now. Being one of the people who has tried hard to reduce the amount of pollution in the city, she has been trying to spread awareness about this amongst the citizens. About the works of the Metro Lines across the city, she is of the opinion that if the Metro can decrease the number of cars and pollution across the city, trees can be chopped off.
“But, new trees need to be planted that would replace each one that has been chopped in the city. I am hoping that the Metros will majorly bring down the pollution that we live in,” she said.
According to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, three new saplings must be planted within 30 days of every single tree being cut, or tree trees can be transplanted in another spot.
She has been spreading awareness about planting new trees, especially the ones that grow in the western region of India.
“Trees can be planted again, but the mangroves cannot. That is one problem we need to tackle and the government has to understand that mangroves have been protecting the city. So relaxing the CRZ is not the potential solution to save the city, and there has to be an alternate route to save the ecology,” she said.
Civil society groups allege scam
Stalin D, from the environmental NGO Vanashakti, has vehemently opposed the developing Metro Lines across Mumbai, especially the felling of trees in Aarey colony and also the annihilation of the shoreline by the development of the coastal road. In an RTI filed by him it was revealed that in last 5 years MMRDA, for the number of trees cut down for the monorail construction, 700 not planted. Almost 80 per cent of the trees that were transplanted from one place to another were dead, therefore, nullifying any positive effect of re-plantation of trees.
“The MMRC should have waited for the High Court Committee’s account of public grievances until they began cutting down the trees. The public consultation is only a formality by the government and nothing more. A similar thing happened about the Colaba – Seepz metro as well. Out of more than one thousand trees, approximately 140 have already been chopped off but not a single one has been replaced,” he said.
The greenery of the city depleting by the day. Only time will tell where it will stop.
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