Mumbai: Of the 1,800 trees in Aarey Colony, which the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) claimed to have transplanted, 800 have perished.
This shocking news has come on the heels of MMRCL officials’ promise that the transplantation would involve arborists and the displaced trees would receive proper care.
As per the MMRCL, 1,800 trees were transplanted in and around Aarey and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Some of these trees had geotags, with information about the survey number of the tree and the spot from where it was uprooted. All trees which were labelled thus, have survived. The remaining 800 have died.
Many of the transplants have withered, others have lost most of their leaves and yet others are dying. Activists have accused the MMRCL of gross negligence and said this is the state of most of the transplanted trees even outside Aarey because the process was carried out without the guidance of an arborist.
On October 4, the MMRCL began axing trees in Aarey colony, shortly after the Bombay High Court refused to stay the cutting.