Over 1,300 trees could be cut down in the island city to accommodate many infrastructural development projects, reported the Times of India.
On Tuesday, propositions to fell and replant 1,346 trees were put before the civic Tree Authority of which, the body sanctioned the axing of 269 trees, 24 were for the Vidhan Bhavan metro station in south Mumbai and nearly 245 for two private schemes in Mumbai’s Lower Parel.
The remaining propositions will be debated in November at the next meeting of the Tree Authority. Plans for axing over 200 trees at one place will be dispatched to the Maharashtra government, according to the amendment to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act. According to the amendment, the government will constitute the Maharashtra Tree Authority to debate such schemes. The state authority will be liable for the conservation and protection of trees that comprise heritage trees too. In addition to this, the local tree authorities are also required to see to it that the schemes aren’t split into smaller piecemeal schemes to ensure that the number of trees is under the constituted limit.
From the 1343 trees, 770 will be felled and 576 will be transplanted. The majority of the trees to felled are owing to the metro and rail projects. Apart from this, few schemes have allocated trees for redevelopment projects throughout the island city.
The account, however, cites the opposition slamming the government for only speaking about the environment, but permitting the axing of trees.
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