MUMBAI, JUNE 5: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will soon undertake a major tree-cutting exercise at its lush green Powai campus to make way for a `School for Information Technology' and a guest house.In two separate proposals sent to the Tree Authority of Greater Mumbai in May this year, the IIT authorities have said they need to cut 48 trees and transplant 74 for the School for Information Technology building, while 16 more need to be cut elsewhere in the campus and 13 replanted for the proposed guest house.On May 28, the proposal was passed by the Tree Authority, with just one of the 22 members objecting to the tree-cutting. ``Perhaps for the first time, IIT is planning to hack down so many trees in one go. Going by past experience, I am sure most of the replanted trees will also die. That's why I had objected to the tree-cutting,'' said Nandu Naik, member, Tree Authority of Greater Mumbai.Naik added he will now visit the IIT campus to see if any of the trees can still be saved. ``ThoughI know I was in a minority during the May 28 meeting of the Tree Authority, I still feel that for such a major tree-cutting operation, the Tree Authority members should have visited the spot to gauge how necessary the cutting was,'' he said.With June 5 being observed as World Environment Day, Naik said it is ``sad and discomforting'' if elite institutions such as the IIT engage in tree-destruction.IIT spokesperson Aruna Dixit said the tree-cutting was unavoidable on account of the construction work. ``IIT has always been green-conscious and in the past, we have also undertaken several tree plantation drives. Which is why there are so many trees in our campus. In fact, every July-August, we hold a `Van Mahotsav' during which we plant a lot of trees,'' Dixit said.She added that the survival rate of the replanted trees are as high as 95 per cent because IIT uses its special horticultural manure. However, Naik disagreed: ``Replanting of trees is not only costly but also very tedious since more than 60 percent of the replanted trees die.''Kalina residents demand ward officer's arrestOn the occasion of World Environment Day today, residents of Kalina, Santacruz, staged a massive dharna outside the Mumbai varsity main gate to protest the recent cutting of a 25-year-old jamun tree by the BMC staff of H-East Ward. More than 100 residents stood for over 3 hours around the spot where the tree was hacked last week and demanded the arrest of ward officer S H Ghatge-Patil. Last Sunday, The Indian Express had reported that the Garden Department of the H-East ward had illegally cut down the tree, planted 25 years ago by the late municipal councillor C D Oommachand.The ward officer had admitted to this newspaper last week that the Tree Authority's permission was not taken in this regard. The late councillor's wife, Nancy Oommachand, also took part in today's dharna where five new saplings were planted at the spot, near the Kalina post office.Banners such as `Can your hear, BMC, stop cutting trees, growmore trees' were exhibited. BMC staff had cut the tree in order to construct a welfare centre from the fund of sitting Member of Parliament Madhukar Sartpotdar. Meanwhile, following The Indian Express report, the Vakola police have carried out a panchnama, though no arrests have been made so far.
