The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday directed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) not to fell any tree for the riverfront development project till July 31, when the matter will be heard next. Sarang Yadwadkar and Pushkar Kulkarni, two Pune residents, have filed an application in the NGT seeking directions prohibiting the PMC from felling trees for the project along the Mula, Mutha and Mula-Mutha rivers until a fresh appraisal of the project is conducted as per a Supreme Court order of March 27. The direction was issued by the NGT’s western zone bench comprising judicial member Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Vijay Kulkarni. The bench said the PMC counsel had responded in the negative to the query on whether the trees were going to be felled. The civic body said it had applied to the Maharashtra Tree Authority for permission to cut the trees and that trees would not be felled till the permission is granted. The PMC was granted two weeks to file its reply affidavit to the NGT. The residents submitted that in the detailed project report (DPR), the civic body had mentioned that the design carefully retained existing trees and also proposed additional green areas, promoting activities like boating and cycling. The master plan captures the essence of the place and cherishes these structures and to accommodate them, the embankment design is modified as per requirement on site. The DPR also records that the Pune city boasts of a great wealth of trees, which keeps exponentially increasing. The existing Pune river edge already consists of a large number of trees, which will be integrated with the proposed riverfront development. It is very important to retain and enrich the green heritage of the city. To protect these existing as well the proposed trees in the riverfront development, tree guards will thus be used. The applicant also submitted to the NGT that the PMC in separate meetings with the State Environmental Impact Assessment Committee and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority in 2019 had said the number of trees to be cut and planted was not applicable for the project. However, there was a public notice issued by the PMC’s Tree Authority for the removal and transplantation of trees. The riverfront project includes the development of a 44-km stretch, which includes 22.2 km of the Mula river, 10.4 km of the Mutha river and 11.8 km of the Mula-Mutha river. The project is divided into multiple stretches for implementation, and work has begun on two stretches. The project has been designed along the lines of the Sabarmati river front development in Gujarat and its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March last year. However, it was challenged in court, delaying the implementation. According to the civic body’s proposal, a total of 7,539 trees will be affected as 3,110 of them would be removed and 4,329 would be transplanted. The PMC will be planting 66,434 new trees to compensate for the cutting of trees. This led to protests from residents, who organised a Chipko Andolan with a march from the Sambhaji Garden gate to the Garware bridge through the riverside road under the banner of Save Mula-Mutha’, demanding that the river be cleaned first. Earlier, 11 environment experts returned the PMC’s Paryavaran Doot environment ambassadors award, saying that they felt cheated by the administration, which had caused massive destruction of natural greenery while implementing the riverfront project and a proposed road on Vetal Tekdi.
