Caught in the throes of a construction boom which has led to significant depletion of green cover in the city, tree plantation drive in Mumbai has also plummeted by nearly 72 per cent in the past two years, according to data furnished from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
While 72,212 trees were planted by the BMC’s garden department in Mumbai between 2023 – 2024, 76,189 trees were planted in the city in 2022-23. This is far below the 2.65 lakh trees that were planted across the city in 2021 – 2022.
Even as the afforestation efforts have recorded a downtick over the past two years, the civic report ‘Environment Status Report 2023 – 2024’ shows that the BMC’s gaze has shifted towards traditional methods of plantation, which has seen over 50 per cent increase in a period of one year.
In the recently released ‘Environment Status Report’ (ESR) for the year 2023 – 2024, the BMC said that 72,212 trees were planted across the city’s 24 wards in 2023 – 2024 through the civic garden department. Of these, 13,234 trees were planted through traditional methods while 58,978 trees were planted using the Miyawaki method — a Japanese technique that had been adopted by the civic body since 2019 as a part of its afforestation efforts.
In 2022 – 2023, a higher number of trees were planted using the Miyawaki technique at 69,975 trees, whereas only 6,214 trees were planted deploying the conventional method. Collectively, nearly 76,189 trees were planted by the civic body in 2022 – 2023.
Despite the city’s increased focus on traditional plantation, the overall drive has seen a stark decline from 2021-2022, when 2,65,033 trees were planted, according to the ESR report for that year. Out of the total 2.65 lakh trees, 2,25,010 trees were planted through the Miyawaki methodology and 40,023 trees were planted via traditional means.
The drop in the plantation numbers come at a time when Mumbai has been facing the brunt of declining urban green cover owing to a massive infrastructural churn.
Over the past six years, the metropolis has witnessed felling of at least 21,028 trees, according to data provided by the BMC to The Indian Express under the RTI Act. The trees were felled largely to make way for development projects such as Metro, bullet train, coastal road, sewage treatment plant (STP) and the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road among others.
Debi Goenka, executive trustee of Conservation Action Trust and a city-based environmental activist, said alongside furnishing details pertaining to the trees planted, the civic body must share the survival rate of trees to provide an insight into the real picture.
“Firstly, a fully grown tree, which is 40 – 50 years old, is equivalent to at least a hundred new trees. Furthermore, the choice of trees is also extremely important. Miyawaki plantations comprise trees which are fast growing but they also die fast,” said Goenka.
“Alongside providing details about total number of tree planted, the BMC should also mention the figures pertaining to the survival rates. However, the BMC makes no mention of the trees’ survival rates. A lot of figures remain hidden as we haven’t even been provided with the tree census reports,” said Goenka.
Calling for more proactiveness from the civic body, Goenka added, “The BMC collects 2 per cent of property tax as tree cess. But where is this money going? The civic body does not even have proper arborists or horticulturists to scientifically plant trees. Furthermore, the tree trimming is also carried out without proper supervision and the contractor is given a free hand. Despite having the funds, even getting BMC to replace fallen trees takes a lot of effort.”
According to the recently released ESR report, nearly 654 dead and dangerous trees were removed by the civic body while 1,29,729 trees were trimmed in 2023 – 2024. Furthermore, concrete and cement were removed from around 3,027 trees during the period.
For the record, as per the 2011 census records, Mumbai has a total of 29,75,283 trees. Records show that the city’s highest green thicket is situated in Ghatkopar (2.92 lakh trees), followed by P/North ward which has 2.84 lakh trees and 2.54 lakh trees in S ward.
The drop in the plantation numbers come at a time when Mumbai has been facing the brunt of declining urban green cover owing to a massive infrastructural churn. (File Photo) 
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