300-year-old baobab tree in Santacruz axed for metro 2B, residents say it is a massive loss
The 40-feet high tree, an important part of the area’s history and everyday life of the residents, was chopped by MMRDA
Mumbai: In the heart of Santacruz, in SV Road, a baobab tree that stood for over 300 years, witnessed the area’s transition from Portuguese and British rule to the post-independence era, disappeared Saturday morning; causing anger, confusion and invoking grief among residents.
The 40-feet high tree, an important part of the area’s history and everyday life of the residents, who fondly called it Santacruz’s oldest citizen, was chopped by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the development of Mumbai Metro 2B’s Santacruz station.
The tree, over 300-year-old, according to former secretary of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Ashok Kothari and historian Debashish Chakraverty, survived this long as residents marched to save its existence.
“In 1979, when there was a move to cut the trees on SV Road, we marched to save the tree,” Ashok recounted. “We were accompanied by Debi Goenka and school children. My own daughter, who was a kid then, was with us.”
Reagen Creado, an activist involved in the fight to protect the tree which was eyed by the metro authorities for a long time, said, “I returned to the site of the tree after we got the news of it being cut, and the sight was a shock to us,” said . “No trace of the tree was left. The base of the tree had been cemented. It was like it never existed there before,” said Creado.
Former environment minister of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led state government for chopping the baobab tree. He promised “strongest possible punishment” for the authority who cut the tree, once the Sena UBT forms a government in Maharashtra again and expressed, “They cannot ruin my Mumbai.”
An activist, part of the group formed to save the tree called Tree Lovers of Santacruz, Aditi Jayakar, expressed her shock at seeing the tree vanished, after being there for over 300 years. “It is a massive loss, as all of us had an emotional connection to the tree,” she said. “None of us had a whiff of their plans to chop the tree down. If we did, then at least we would have fought for its transplantation.”
The loss was far more significant for words for former secretary of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Ashok Kothari, who first marched to save the tree over 40 years ago.
“In 1979, when there was a move to cut the trees on SV Road, we marched from the Baobab to Baobab, ending at the tree in front of Bhabha hospital in Bandra,” he recounted. “We were accompanied by Debi Goenka and school children walked with us. My own daughter, who was a kid then, was with us.”
Kothari explained why the tree meant so much to him. “These are trees whose saplings were bought all the way by traders coming from Madagascar in Africa, and planted by the Portuguese. They’ve been there from the time only horses and bullock carts travelled the roads. They keep the area cool, and their huge canopies are equivalent to that of many young trees,” he went on.
The protest was a success, as the then municipal commissioner, BG Deshmukh, passed an order saving old trees on and near the pavement, explained Kothari.
But that was not the end of it. The citizens had to protest again to save the tree around 15 years ago. The fight then revived again in 2016, when, as Jayakar recalls, a builder had chopped off many old trees in the nearby Willingdon Colony and was coming for it. This is when the group Tree Lovers of Santacruz was born.
“We felicitated the tree, calling it Santacruz’s oldest citizen, to increase awareness of its age and stature,” she said. “We then strengthened the roots of the tree and others along the road with organic fertiliser and planted new trees. Posters about the wealth it offers were pasted on the tree.”
Another fight won under their bag, the threat to it resurfaced in 2021, this time as the tree fell along the route of the Metro Line 2B. Once again, the residents rebanded, were joined by tree lovers all over the city, and put up a fight.
In 2021, after months, the activists met MMRDA officials. “They explained why the trees along the road would have to be cut. But when it came to this particular tree, they promised us it would be spared, especially as there was pressure from the then-Shiv Sena government,” said Creado.
Jayakar echoed this, saying the metro officials promised them the station design would be tweaked to leave the tree unscathed. Lately, the residents had put up flex posters with information about the tree: that it is native to Madagascar, it can live up to 2,000 years, their peculiar appearance giving them the nickname of ‘upside down trees’, how it stories 8,000 litres of water in its trunk, along with a photo of Kothari with a poster with a painting of the tree. All was good, till a resident noticed the tree missing – there one day, gone the other – on Monday morning.
“We will not let this go without expressing our anger,” said Kothari. “We will take out a protest on May 5, similar to a funeral procession for the tree.”
A metro official claimed the tree was cut with all permissions and procedures in place, and said that further study showed that the tree could not be left as it was for metro work. “Notices were placed by the BMC on the tree for its cutting, and an advertisement was even put in the newspapers in January. As the girth of the tree is too wide, the tree expert we consulted said transplantation is not possible as it would affect the whole road it is on,” he said.
The BMC’s notice on its website dated January 2024, lists 93 trees to be cut - of which only 26 will be transplanted - from SV Road, Santacruz, Khar and Bandra West for the entry and exit of stations on the metro 2B line.
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