At last, city’s trees find a messiah...

Office-goers witnessed an unusual sight outside Huma Adlabs, Kanjurmarg station, on Friday morning. A 'human' chain of 10 people hugged a giant 70-year-old rain tree to mark their protest against the tree authority that gave its green signal to the chopping down of more than 150 trees for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) road-widening project.

The city's tree lovers organised a Chipko rally to create awareness about the need to save the trees. Fittingly enough, Sunderlal Bahuguna, the man behind the Chipko Movement in the 1970s, kickstarted the rally to save Mumbai's trees.

Bahuguna, his wife Vimala, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, Kishan Mehta of Save Bombay Committee, Sunish Subramaniam of PAWS (Plant and Animal Welfare Society), tree lovers and residents congregated around trees at six different locations along the LBS Marg, from Vikhroli to Mulund.

"Save trees, save humanity," said 79-year-old Bahuguna, as he tied a symbolic religious red thread around a tree-trunk, pledging to offer protection to the tree. Bahuguna said, "We fought the government for eight years before Himachal Pradesh banned  cutting of trees that grew over an altitude of 1000 feet."

"The Tree Authority, statutorily obliged to protect the trees, and environment has abused the provisions of the Maharashtra Urban Areas Preservation of Trees Act," said tree lover Kisan Mehta.

Kirit Somaiya, MP,  said, "Though 27 trees have been cut, I am glad this timely intervention has prevented further damage."

By the look of things, the Chipko rally did have the desired effect, as AK Muzumdar, MMRDA consultant, said, "An expert committee will review the need for tree-cutting and present its findings."

Rishi Aggarwaal, of Mumbai Environment Social Network, too had some heartening news.  "The Court has asked the MMRDA to open up their complete plans to the public before November 16. The MMRDA will have to give a reason before cutting down even a single tree," said Aggarwaal.

...But some more greens make way for gravel

Deepa Suryanarayan

While the city's tree enthusiasts were preparing to welcome Sunderlal Bahuguna for a 'Chipko' rally on Friday to save around 147 trees on LBS Marg from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) axe, three separate incidents of tree chopping were reported in different parts of the city on Thursday.

A huge peepal tree was felled next to Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha, M G Road, Chembur. "It was a very old peepal tree and was home to a number of birds," said a 67-year-old resident of the area, Gurpreet Kaur. Opposite Thakur Engineering College, Kandivali (E), at least three trees were axed for road-widening. "When I returned from work at midnight, the trees were still standing. But by morning, all that remained were chopped logs along the road," said a resident.

In a third incident, this time on S K Ahire Marg, Worli, eight trees were cut. "S K Ahire Marg is a long, shady lane with huge gulmohur, banyan and other trees on both sides. It was very sad to see the road minus its greenery," said Zina Mody, an employee with HSBC Bank, located near the lane.

"What's worse, the chopping of these healthy trees was totally avoidable as the road is already wide enough to accommodate existing traffic," said Dr Anahita Pundole, heritage conservationist and tree lover. "The Tree Authority had sanctioned the chopping," she added.