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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Monday (October 27) censured the Maharashtra government over the poor survival rate of afforestation in Mumbai. It warned that it would revoke its previous permissions to fell trees for city-wide projects such as the Mumbai Metro Rail and the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR).
The two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing a fresh plea by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking permission to fell trees for the GMLR project, subject to compensatory afforestation. On August 14, the SC had permitted the felling of 95 trees for the project.
It observed that only 50 per cent of the 20,460 trees planted as part of compensatory afforestation for the Mumbai Metro project have survived to date.
The court directed the Maharashtra chief secretary to hold a meeting with all stakeholders and frame a “concrete proposal as to what steps are being taken” to ensure that “compensatory afforestation” is undertaken in letter and spirit. The state has thus requested time till November 11 to file a better affidavit.
At least 21,028 trees have been felled in the six years between 2018 and 2023, according to an RTI reply in March 2024 by the BMC to The Indian Express. The trees were cleared as part of development projects like the Mumbai Metro, Coastal Road and the GMLR, among others.
According to the data provided by the BMC in the same reply, it had transplanted (uprooted and replanted) 21,916 mature trees during this period, but only under 21 per cent survived.
According to this data, 4,338 trees were transplanted between 2018 and 2023 in six wards: A (Nariman Point, Churchgate, Colaba), B (Dongri, Bhindi Bazar), C (Chira Bazar, Kalbadevi), D (Malabar Hill), E (Byculla), F/South (Parel), F/North (Wadala), G/South (Worli) and G/North (Dadar) wards. Only 963 trees survived during this period.
As part of the upcoming Mumbai Coastal Road project, which will extend between Mumbai’s Versova and Bhayander, nearly 1,244 trees are set to be cleared. The BMC published a notice for this proposal earlier this month. An additional 706 trees are set to be felled along the eastern freeway to construct a 12.95 km-long elevated high-speed corridor that will connect Ghatkopar in the eastern suburbs with Mulund.
Civic officials told The Indian Express that the survival rate is not particularly alarming considering Mumbai’s geographical conditions. One official attributed this to the city’s proximity to the sea, which ensures a humid climate, and its high pollution.
“Also, in Mumbai, we try to transplant as many trees as we can. For example, if there are 100 trees to be cut for any project, we ensure that instead of cutting all 100 trees, 60 per cent are cut and then we attempt to transplant the remaining 40 per cent of the trees, so that these trees can be given a new lease of life, instead of being completely felled,” the official added.
Independent experts, however, attribute the poor survival rate to the haphazard, unscientific fashion in which the transplantation is carried out.
“There are two types of trees – hardwood trees such as mango, teak and jamun, and softwood trees such as gulmohar, banyan and babul. Most of the trees being transplanted by authorities belong to the hardwood category, which is why their survival rate is low,” explained Dilip Shenai, an ecologist and horticulturist who has worked as a consultant with the state government on several projects involving tree transplantation.
He added that hardwood trees, like mango trees, grow and adapt slowly to new environments, in contrast to softwood trees. Mango trees in particular become accustomed to their original environment very easily, take longer to adapt to their transplanted environment, and could even die before adapting, given their slow rate of growth, he said.
“After a tree is uprooted, you treat it with growth hormones and fungicides. It usually takes a tree ten days to recover from the shock of being cut or uprooted. Also, it is important to transplant the trees close to their original location, so that there is not much change in soil and air quality,” Shenai said.
He added that authorities often fail to follow the step-by-step process of tree transplantation; as a result, the process is carried out haphazardly.
“In Mumbai, trees are transplanted within two days, with most of the trees being transplanted in a spot which is far away from the original site. After transplantation, these trees also need to be watered regularly for a period of one month, but the authorities do not usually follow that, which affects the tree’s survival rate,” Shenai said.
