Caught within the throes of a building increase which has led to vital depletion of inexperienced cowl within the metropolis, tree plantation drive in Mumbai has additionally plummeted by almost 72 per cent up to now two years, in response to knowledge furnished from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC).
Whereas 72,212 bushes have been planted by the BMC’s backyard division in Mumbai between 2023 – 2024, 76,189 bushes have been planted within the metropolis in 2022-23. That is far beneath the two.65 lakh bushes that have been planted throughout the town in 2021 – 2022.
Even because the afforestation efforts have recorded a downtick over the previous two years, the civic report ‘Surroundings Standing Report 2023 – 2024’ exhibits that the BMC’s gaze has shifted in direction of conventional strategies of plantation, which has seen over 50 per cent improve in a interval of 1 yr.
Within the lately launched ‘Surroundings Standing Report’ (ESR) for the yr 2023 – 2024, the BMC mentioned that 72,212 bushes have been planted throughout the town’s 24 wards in 2023 – 2024 via the civic backyard division. Of those, 13,234 bushes have been planted via conventional strategies whereas 58,978 bushes have been planted utilizing the Miyawaki methodology — a Japanese approach that had been adopted by the civic physique since 2019 as part of its afforestation efforts.
In 2022 – 2023, the next variety of bushes have been planted utilizing the Miyawaki approach at 69,975 bushes, whereas solely 6,214 bushes have been planted deploying the traditional methodology. Collectively, almost 76,189 bushes have been planted by the civic physique in 2022 – 2023.
Regardless of the town’s elevated deal with conventional plantation, the general drive has seen a stark decline from 2021-2022, when 2,65,033 bushes have been planted, in response to the ESR report for that yr. Out of the full 2.65 lakh bushes, 2,25,010 bushes have been planted via the Miyawaki methodology and 40,023 bushes have been planted through conventional means.
The drop within the plantation numbers come at a time when Mumbai has been going through the brunt of declining city inexperienced cowl owing to an enormous infrastructural churn.
Over the previous six years, the metropolis has witnessed felling of not less than 21,028 bushes, in response to knowledge offered by the BMC to The Indian Categorical below the RTI Act. The bushes have been felled largely to make approach for improvement tasks corresponding to Metro, bullet prepare, coastal street, sewage therapy plant (STP) and the Goregaon-Mulund Hyperlink Highway amongst others.
Debi Goenka, govt trustee of Conservation Motion Belief and a city-based environmental activist, mentioned alongside furnishing particulars pertaining to the bushes planted, the civic physique should share the survival price of bushes to offer an perception into the true image.
“Firstly, a totally grown tree, which is 40 – 50 years previous, is equal to not less than 100 new bushes. Moreover, the selection of bushes can also be extraordinarily essential. Miyawaki plantations comprise bushes that are quick rising however additionally they die quick,” mentioned Goenka.
“Alongside offering particulars about whole variety of tree planted, the BMC also needs to point out the figures pertaining to the survival charges. Nonetheless, the BMC makes no point out of the bushes’ survival charges. Plenty of figures stay hidden as we haven’t even been supplied with the tree census studies,” mentioned Goenka.
Calling for extra proactiveness from the civic physique, Goenka added, “The BMC collects 2 per cent of property tax as tree cess. However the place is that this cash going? The civic physique doesn’t even have correct arborists or horticulturists to scientifically plant bushes. Moreover, the tree trimming can also be carried out with out correct supervision and the contractor is given a free hand. Regardless of having the funds, even getting BMC to switch fallen bushes takes a variety of effort.”
In response to the lately launched ESR report, almost 654 lifeless and harmful bushes have been eliminated by the civic physique whereas 1,29,729 bushes have been trimmed in 2023 – 2024. Moreover, concrete and cement have been faraway from round 3,027 bushes through the interval.
For the document, as per the 2011 census data, Mumbai has a complete of 29,75,283 bushes. Information present that the town’s highest inexperienced thicket is located in Ghatkopar (2.92 lakh bushes), adopted by P/North ward which has 2.84 lakh bushes and a couple of.54 lakh bushes in S ward.
