TMC launches tree plantation drive

MUMBAI, June 21: The Thane Municipal Corporation has undertaken an ambitious project of planting 1,00,000 trees as part of its beautificatio...

MUMBAI, June 21: The Thane Municipal Corporation has undertaken an ambitious project of planting 1,00,000 trees as part of its beautification programme. Thane civic commissioner T S Chandrashekhar announced this at a function at the TMC headquarters today.

8220;While the TMC itself will plant 10,000 trees,8221; he informed, 8220;we expect interested citizens, NGOs, the corporate sector and industries to help us plant the remaining 90,000.8221; Each road would be lined with one of the 20 different varieties of trees available with the corporation, he said and exhorted the people to help with the maintenance of trees.

The TMC had to fell many trees when the road-widening work began in the township. The work has been finished at a marathon pace within seven months.

Chandrashekhar said the TMC had transplanted the trees at places like Railadevi lake and Thane Jail road, adding that over 90 per cent of the 573 transplanted trees had survived.

He also gave details of the TMC8217;s next big project the Lakes andJunctions project under which 15 lakes and 30 public squares will be beautified. He said 15 out of Thane8217;s 65 lakes are in a precarious state. 8220;If we don8217;t take urgent measures, Thane, once known as the city of lakes, will end up without a single one,8221; he pointed out. The project8217;s first phase has a budget of Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh for lakes and Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh for junctions.

Chandrashekar8217;s call to industrialists, developers and NGOs struck an instant chord with the crowd as many enthusiastically came forward to announce their contributions to the plan.

Niranjan Hiranandani of the Hiranandani group announced the group8217;s desire to adopt Kavishwar lake and the area around it for beautification.

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8220;Although we8217;re all facing problems due to market recession, our group will be proud to be associated with a good cause like this,8221; he said. Aplab Industries also announced its desire to adopt the Modella Chowk for beautification.

NGOs and local bodies like the Rotary and Lions Club too promisedassistance.

Later, trees were planted by Thane mayor Premsingh Rajput and standing committee chairperson Veena Bhatiya outside the Thane Municipal Corporation headquarters. Thane-based Sena leader Anand Dighe also attended the function.