Mumbai lost over 21,000 trees in 6 years to make way for Metro, road projects

The BMC data also shows that although it transplanted 21,916 trees during the six-year period — between 2018 and 2023 — their survival rate was low. Data on survival of transplanted trees was available only for 9 out of the total 24 wards.

According to the data, out of the 4,338 trees transplanted in these 9 wards, only 963 trees (22%) survived.

Another cause of concern for Mumbaikars is the city’s tree count. According to the BMC, Mumbai has a total of 29,75,283 trees. Civic officials, however, clarified that this number is from the last tree census carried out in 2011.

Mumbai tree count is 29.75 lakh as per 2011 census.

Infra & trees

A closer look at the data establishes a direct correlation between developmental projects and felling of trees. For instance, BMC’s S ward, which comprises areas such as Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg, witnessed the highest felling of trees at 2,602. This ward is witnessing construction of an underground tunnel for the bullet train project along with the BMC’s ambitious STP project. This is followed by K-East ward – comprising Andheri East – where 1,584 trees were cut down. Another 1,318 trees were felled in N ward (Ghatkopar), and F/North (Sion, Matunga, Wadala) wards, while 1,313 trees were cut in G-South ward, which includes Worli. Andheri, Juhu, Worli and BKC are witnessing Metro rail work while locations in Ghatkopar, Versova and Dharavi have been earmarked by the BMC for its mega STP project.

Civic officials said that 90% of the tree cutting permissions were issued to make way for developmental projects like Metro, bullet train, Mumbai Coastal Road, STP, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road and other infrastructure projects like bridges and widening of roads.

“Over the past six years, several infrastructure projects have been taken up at one go, especially because many of them were stuck for years and the work orders for carrying out the actual civil works on ground were issued only in the past 3-4 years. As a result, there had been a requirement of issuing necessary tree-cutting permission to make way for these projects,” said Iqbal Singh Chahal, former BMC Commissioner who vacated his office last week.

“For carrying out infrastructure works in any part of the world some portions of urban tree cover is lost. In the case of Mumbai, we will compensate for this loss by creating a 300-acre Mumbai Central Park by amalgamating 175 acres of the upcoming coastal road promenade with the existing 120 acres of Mahalaxmi Racecourse,” Chahal said.

According to the data, between 2018 and 2023, the highest number of 5,584 trees were cut in 2022, followed by 4,536 trees in 2021.

In March 2022, the BMC had released the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) with an aim to identify the growing concerns of climate change and to ideate solutions to mitigate issues pertaining to growing environment challenges in Mumbai. In its report, the BMC had stated that between 2016 and 2021, Mumbai lost an urban green cover of 2,028 hectares, which is more than the Aarey forest (1,300 hectares). The report also stated that this loss of green cover has contributed to 19,640.9 tonnes of carbon emission per year.
It may be recalled that Mumbai has been reeling under bad air-quality for the past two years. In its ‘Death by Breath’ series, The Indian Express reported how rampant construction works and mismanagement of solid waste had led to an increase in air pollution in the megapolis.

“Mumbai is a coastal city and it is surrounded by the Arabian Sea from three sides. The overall landmass that is required for adequate tree plantation is limited. Therefore, cutting of trees at large numbers is not advisable at all, rather, there should be a focus on preserving as many trees as possible,” Gufran Beig, chair-professor of IISC and National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), told The Indian Express.

Transplanted but low survival rate

According to the BMC data for 9 wards, only 22.19% of the transplanted trees survived in the past six years. A total of 4,338 trees were transplanted in A (Nariman Point, Churchgate, Colaba), B (Dongri, Bhindi Bazar), C (Chirabazar, Kalbadevi), D (Malabar Hill), E (Byculla), F/South (Parel), F/North (Wadala), G/South (Worli) and G/North (Dadar) wards, out of which only 963 survived. The civic authorities didn’t furnish data for the remaining 15 wards.

Tree transplantation refers to the process of uprooting and replanting grown up trees from one location to another.

According to the data, only 12 of the 221 trees transplanted in A ward survived; in D ward, only 59 out of the 438 survived; while in F/North only 94 trees survived out of the 519 transplanted trees.

Dilip Shenai, ecologist and horticulturist, said the transplantation process is not working in Mumbai because permission for transplanting any tree is being issued without understanding the nature of trees. “There are two types of trees – hardwood and softwood. Trees like Mango and Palm are hardwood trees, which aren’t feasible for transplantation. Most of the trees being transplanted belong to the hardwood category, which is why their survival rate is low,” said Shenai. He said inside Aarey forest, hundreds of soft-wood trees had been transplanted under his watch, with 80% survival rate.

Shenai also said that often authorities don’t follow the step-by-step process of tree transplantation. “After a tree is uprooted, you treat it with growth hormones and fungicides and it usually takes a tree 10 days to recover from the shock of being cut or uprooted. Also, it is important to transplant the trees close to its original location, so that there is not much change in its soil and air quality,” Shenai said. “However, in Mumbai, trees are transplanted within a period of two days, most of the trees being transplanted in a spot far away from their original site.”

Civic officials, however, blame it on the city’s geographical conditions. “Mumbai is very close to the sea and as a result the existing weather condition is very humid and the city also has high pollution levels. These factors are not favorable for high survival rate in transplanted trees,” an official said. “Also in Mumbai, we try to transplant as many trees as we can. For example, if there are 100 trees that are needed to be cut for a project, we make sure that instead of cutting all 100, we cut 60% and try to transplant 40%, so that the remaining trees can get a new lease of life,” an official said.

Looking ahead

Debi Goenka, executive trustee of Conservation Action Trust and a city-based environmental activist, said the government needs to come up with a solid plan of action to protect Mumbai’s urban green cover, as well as the overall environment. “None of the governments so far are worried about environmental conservation. The 21,000 trees that have been cut are official figures only, which is bare minimum. Many trees are being cut unofficially. The BMC is collecting tree-cess from citizens and this money is just piling up,” Goenka alleged.

NIAS’s Beig said the fact that so many trees have been cut within a short span is another contributing factor to the high pollution in Mumbai. “Trees have a leaf area index that absorbs pollutants, and keeps carbon footprint in check. As a result, the loss in green cover is also a major reason behind the city’s growing pollution woes,” he said.

Raghu Murtugudde, professor at IIT-Bombay, said the loss of trees leads to increased surface temperature. “Arabian sea has been warming for 20 years, and that is changing the monsoon pattern. If we can control the haphazard cutting of the trees, it may help in mitigating the large-scale changes in weather pattern since increase in tree cover plays a major role in maintaining and keeping the temperature under control,” he said.

Civic officials said that this year the BMC will carry out a survey to assess Mumbai’s existing green cover along with a fresh tree census. They also maintained that the authorities are working towards boosting the city’s green cover by 40% in the next five years. “We have adopted a methodology of micro greening which is a manual that aims towards equipping people to learn and adapt to various scientific greening practices. The manual offers detailed guidance about maintaining plants at basic spaces like balconies which creates micro clusters of greenery that eventually compounds to the overall ecology of Mumbai,” said Jitendra Pardeshi, superintendent of garden’s department in BMC.