BMC Budget 2020: Mumbai's civic body to plant four lakh trees

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has allocated ₹65 crores to plant nearly four lakh trees in order to compensate for the felling of a large number of trees in the past. 

The Mumbai’s civic body has given nod to the felling of 25,000 trees over the last five years. However, to rectify the same, the BMC will plant four lakh trees using Miyawaki technique. 

On February 4, the BMC presented its budget of ₹33,341 crores for the financial year 2020-21. BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi unveiled its first budget to the Standing Committee Chairman Yashwant Jadhav. 

Also Read - Mumbai All Set To Get Country’s Largest Air Quality Monitoring Network

With the ongoing metro work and other constructions in Mumbai, the number of trees in the city has decreased drastically. This has contributed to the rise in pollution levels. 

The BMC has decided to take this step under the ‘Mumbai Model’ and the idea of planting trees has been discussed before. However, the city has a lack of space and the civic body may encounter issues to plant trees. 

In its budget, Mumbai's civic body announced that it will plant trees in 65 municipal parks and plots in the next financial year. 

In 2019-20, the BMC budget was estimated at ₹30,692 crores. However, this year the civic body budget has increased to ₹33,341. The budget has registered a hike by ₹2,649 crore which is an 8.6 per cent increase.  

Also Read - Mumbai's Suburbs To Get An Aquarium Too?

In the BMC budget 2020-21, ₹226.77 crores have been proposed for the garden department. The BMC aims to compensate the felling of trees earlier for vital projects by planting four lakh trees through Miyawaki plantations. 

Also Read - Dolphins Spotted Near Raj Bhavan

 For those unaware, Miyawaki method was developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. It is a method to restore native forests from seeds of native trees on very degraded soils which were deforested. This process is done without using humus. However, according to Akira Miyawaki, there are several factors which ensure the success of this method. They are: 

• Rigorous initial site survey and research of potential natural vegetation.
• Identification and collecting of a large number of various native seeds, locally or nearby and in a comparable geo-climatic context.
• Germination experimentation in a nursery