‘Many of the replanted trees are dead, dying’

NAVI MUMBAI: Many of the trees, which were removed from Rabale MIDC area and replanted in various nodes, have dried up due to lack of attention by the civic body. Thousands of trees were shifted from Rabale to make way for infrastructure projects like road widening and replanted in Ghansoli, along Thane-Belapur Road, Nerul and Turbhe dumping ground (see box). Civic officials said that out of the more than 3,990 replanted trees, as many as 420 are already dead. The trees were replanted by the NMMC garden department and their regular maintenance and care is the department’s responsibility. The civic body had spent Rs 60 lakh to replant these trees about two years ago in other nodes. “Apart from the official count of dead trees, several of the replanted trees are drying up due to lack of attention by the NMMC,” said Anarjit Chauhan, RTI activist and Nerul resident. He added that around 50 trees are drying up along Thane- Belapur Road while the count is 40 in Nerul and around 70 trees in the Ghansoli tree belt (see box). Some of the trees have been cut down by the locals. “The contractors were entrusted the task of maintaining the trees for a year initially. Civic officials also have to survey the trees every 8 to 10 days to check whether the trees are being handled properly by the contractors during the replantation process,” said Bhalchandra Gawli, superintendent officer, NMMC garden department. He added that around 12% of the trees died after the replantation. Activists said that if proper care had been taken, these replanted trees would have survived. “Officials claim that they inspect these trees but, in reality, it never happens. As a result no proper care is taken of the replanted trees in the city,” said Chauhan.