Environment activists and like-minded citizens in Navi Mumbai are up in arms against the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), which is contemplating to axe close to 200 trees in the Thane-Belapur industrial belt to hand over an area measuring over an acre to project affected persons (PAPs) for rehabilitation.
Activists' Plea To CM Eknath Shinde
In a letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the activists have expressed concern and requested to save open space and greenery in the highly-polluted belt situated in the Trans Thane Creek (TTC) area. The trees are to be axed at plot number OS-7 in Pawane village, which activists said is the only green lung in the entire area with fully grown trees.
The activists have said in the letter, “We have learnt that a private company has painstakingly developed this plot with plenty of landfill over the past 20 years. Today, the green space has tall palms and other trees and flower bearing plants.”
Activists Critique PAP Compensation Plans
“The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) officials visit the area whenever they conduct tree census, which means that this green patch is under the NMMC account as well,” the letter adds.
Stating that they are not against rehabilitating the PAPs, which is much delayed, the environmentalists said that it is rather shocking that after more than six decades of industrial and residential development in the area, the authorities are still talking about compensating the PAPs.
Activists & NGOs Urge Authorities To Consider Alternatives and Value Environmental Conservation
They have requested the MIDC and other local authorities such as the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to find alternative spaces rather than destroying the city’s green lungs.
Elaborating on NGO NatConnect’s #Mission Green, its director BN Kumar said that “every tree counts”. He said, “The authorities must recognise the fact that it takes years for trees to grow. It really hurts to see the greenery being uprooted mercilessly.”
Another environmentalist and convenor of Parsik Greens Vishnu Joshi rued that the so-called planned city is starving for open spaces and green cover. “While CIDCO has been selling literally every available inch of open space, it is sad to see MIDC joining this mindless mission without caring for the environment,” he said.
