Mumbai Trees: BMC To Conduct Joint Inspection Of Non-Deconcretised Tree Bases Following Bombay HC Order

Mumbai, June 18: Following a Bombay High Court (HC) order, the BMC's Garden Department will carry out inspections at locations where deconcretisation of tree bases has not been undertaken. The inspection will be conducted jointly along with the petitioner and intervenor on June 25.

Environment activist Rohit Joshi had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the urgent need to deconcretise tree bases across the city of Thane. However, the HC took suo motu cognisance and added Mumbai to the matter.

Thane has around 7 lakh trees, while Mumbai has around 35 lakh trees.

“Both the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have claimed that almost all trees are already freed, stating only 1% remains to be deconcretised. We have successfully exposed these claims in court with solid evidence. As a result, the HC has directed us to conduct a joint physical inspection with municipal officers to point out the actual ground reality,” Joshi said.

Joint survey to begin from South Mumbai

A senior officer from the BMC's Garden Department said, “We will follow the HC order and visit the places. It is not possible to cover the entire Mumbai in a day. Thus, we will start the joint inspection from ‘A’ Ward (Fort, Colaba, Churchgate). The other wards will follow.”

The officer added that they regularly inspect whether contractors have maintained the mandatory open space around tree bases. However, at times the space is misused or damaged.

The HC, in its June 11 order, directed TMC officials and the BMC’s Deputy Superintendent of Gardens, along with the petitioner and intervenor, to “point out the places where the work of deconcretisation of the concerned trees has not yet been undertaken” on June 16 and June 25, respectively.

Citizens urged to join ‘Help Free Our Trees’ campaign

Accordingly, the joint inspection for Thane was carried out on Tuesday, while the inspection for Mumbai will be conducted on Thursday, June 25.

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Meanwhile, Joshi has made a public appeal, ‘Help Free Our Trees’, urging tree-loving citizens to step up and help trees breathe. The appeal asks citizens to identify trees in their areas, take clear photographs using a GPS Map Camera, and volunteer for the joint survey.

Joshi said that he is receiving an overwhelming response from alert, tree-loving Mumbaikars and has received hundreds of photographs along with locations from across Mumbai.

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