Over 100 trees fall in a week; BMC neglected NGT order, says NGO

It is pertinent to note that after the onset of monsoon in Mumbai on June 25, the city lost close to 100 trees within a week.

Meanwhile, civic officials from the tree department have attributed the tree falls primarily to the digging work underway in Mumbai for real estate and infrastructure projects. “Along with rain, we were also recording heavy to very heavy gusts that blew at a speed of 50 kmph, and a few trees couldn’t withstand the pressure as roots couldnt hold ground. During rains, leaves and branches of the trees also become heavy as they soak water,” said an official.

“In the past year, several roads have been being dug up, thus damaging the tree basins. This is one of the contributing factors, and so we have already asked the roads department to erect barricades around tree basins, wherever digging needs to be done,” the official added.

Civic officials also maintained that many trees that fell were in the periphery of private buildings as several societies don’t prune trees annually, which poses a threat to residents.

Stalin D, environmentalist and director of NGO, Vanashakti, told The Indian Express that they had predicted this outcome in 2015, following which they had approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) court of India.

“More trees fall in Mumbai because no other city concretises tree basins. The concretisation robs trees of soil moisture, and they become dehydrated from within. Paucity of water within the trees causes them to lose equilibrium and collapse at the first onslaught of rain,” Stalin told The Indian Express.

“After we went to NGT, the court ordered BMC to implement remedial measures but nothing has been implemented on ground till date. As a damage control measure they are just pruning branches, which is of no use, because by removing a few branches you can’t restore a tree’s balance,” he said.