Mumbai News: Activists Allege MMRCL Trees Dying Due To Lack Of Upkeep Despite Paying Hefty Amount Towards Maintenance

Mumbai: As the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) inaugurated Phase 2A of the Mumbai Metro 3 on Saturday, activists have highlighted the distressing condition of the trees planted by MMRCL. While the government company claimed that it spends Rs 2 lakh for maintenance of each tree, the activists have claimed that the trees rely solely on rains.

In July 2024, The Free Press Journal reported that in a reply to RTI query filed by Watchdog Foundation, MMRCL claimed to have spent a sum of Rs 12.01 crore on the plantation and maintenance of 584 trees, amounting to Rs 2 lakh per tree, along the route of Metro 3. While the government-owned company had taken a u-turn later and said that the amount was spent after 2,931 trees, activists had alleged that spending Rs 41,000 for maintaining each tree is an inflated amount.

On Saturday, the Watchdog Foundation raised concerns about the sorry state of trees planted opposite Gavdevi Mandir in Aarey. According to the activists, the trees are severely suffering due to a complete lack of maintenance by MMRCL even though it has spent a fortune of Rs 2 lakhs per tree for maintenance.

In a letter to MMRCL, Watchdog Foundation’s trustee Godfrey Pimenta highlighted that the trees are in a dying state, negating the purpose of afforestation efforts undertaken in the region. He claimed that the plantations seem to rely solely on rainfall as there is no proper care or watering provided.

“Given the environmental significance of Aarey and the need to uphold green initiatives, we request MMRCL to take immediate corrective action by ensuring a regular watering schedule for the trees throughout the year and deploying a monitoring mechanism to assess the health of the plantation. We demand that they hold the responsible agency accountable for maintenance and survival of the planted trees,” said Pimenta.

Earlier, MMRCL had said that three contracts including Package 19, 20, and 21 have been awarded for implementation of in-situ plantation, where the agency was required to grow trees of specified species in their nurseries till they attain a girth of 46cm.

The nurseries had to meet required technical and financial criteria including having a minimum nursery area of 2 hectares. In stage 2, these trees are to be transported from the nurseries to specific locations in Mumbai and undertake plantation at sites after which they are to be maintained for three years under stage 3.