Aarey Forest: 60% Of Trees Planted During Mumbai Metro Rail's Afforestation Drive Perished

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s transplantation drive in Aarey Forest as well as in Mumbai did not bear any fruit. An inspection done by the Bombay High Court’s Metro3 Tree Committee claimed that out of 1,060 trees planted in the forest, 680 have perished, which covers over 60% of the trees that were planted.

This was done to compensate the felling of around 1,500 trees during the Metro 3 line construction which goes from Colaba to Andheri. The plantation drive took place all over the city and not just in Aarey.

A statement was posted on Mumbai Metro 3’s official Twitter handle calling the transplantation and urban plantation drive as one of the largest drives undertaken. It also talked about how the survival of freshly planted trees was 97% and 36.2% of the transplanted trees were bound to survive even the harshest of urban conditions.

Our official statement with regards to the status of tree plantation and transplantation carried out by us. pic.twitter.com/NJsnpNYPM7

— MumbaiMetro3 (@MumbaiMetro3) November 20, 2019

Mumbai-based activist Zoru Bhatena, who had actively taken part in the protests earlier against the cutting of the trees, went to the forests to see the plight.

“The lack of care is evident in the way the trees have perished. This would not have happened if there was an actual desire and will to undertake this drive,” he tells The Logical Indian.

Bhatena said that Aarey is a fertile land, so the fact that such a huge number of trees have suffered shows negligence on the part of the city’s metro rail corporation.

This is not the only instance as such negligence has been witnessed earlier as well. It was earlier brought to the notice of MMRC (Mumbai Metro Rail corporation Limited) but there has been no action taken.

The corporation still plans to plant 500-600 more trees around the city. However, contrasting the drive with the result, it becomes clear that this is something the corporation has been doing only as an obligation.

Also Read: Lungs of Mumbai Under Threat: Over 2000 Trees In Aarey Forest Cut Since Friday Night