BMC fines road concreting contractor for damaging tree roots

MUMBAI: In a first, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) took action against a road contractor for damaging roots of trees while excavating the road for concretisation work, thereby flouting the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

On Thursday, the road department issued a notice, which penalised the contractor working on Rajabhau Desai Marg in Prabhadevi with a fine of ₹20,000. The notice read: “The digging was done within one metre radius of the tree, hence, damaging the roots to some extent, which may lead to serious damage in near future.”

An official from the Tree Authority said, “Several warnings were issued to the contractors and the road department. However, this is the first time that action has been taken.”

BMC officials stated that such action will be taken against all contractors found flouting the NGT guidelines.

Residents of the city have time and again complained about the damage caused to trees while undertaking concretisation work. Earlier this week, the Tree Authority undertook a survey to assess the condition of the trees and examine whether they suffered any damage due to the extreme heat and concretisation.

On March 3, Godfrey Pimenta, founder of Watchdog Foundation, complained about the choking of trees around the international airport along the Sahar Village road in Andheri East, after which civic officials directed the airport authorities to remove the concrete and leave one metre radius around the trees.

On January 16, 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), western bench, directed the BMC to remove concrete within a radius of one metre (1mX1mX1m) around tree trunks and ensure that no construction or repair work is done in that space.