State tree authority gives nod to remove 750 trees in Mumbai, Thane

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Tree Authority (MSTA) has given its nod for the felling of 753 trees in Mumbai and Thane for two projects, including the construction of a new railway station between Thane and Mulund on the Central Railway, which alone will result in the removal of 382 trees.

Another 371 trees (including 14 heritage trees) are slated to go for the development of a private building in Dadar on Rafi Nagar Kidwai Marg, as per a proposal submitted by the BMCs gardens department.

Granted during the ninth meeting of the MSTA on July 31, these are likely to be the last such approvals granted by the Authority, which was convened during the previous MVA government, in January 2022, via an amendment to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act.

This made Maharashtra the first state to establish an overarching body to regulate rampant felling of trees. On July 28, the Maharashtra Assembly passed a bill reinstating the jurisdiction of local tree authorities to grant permission for the felling of more than 200 trees without consulting the MSTA. In Mumbai, these proposals will now be taken up by the BMCs tree authority, though the MSTA will continue to exist on paper.

“The state tree authority has not been dissolved, but if developers and various government bodies have no legal requirement to approach the MSTA, its existence will be limited to being on paper,” said an official with the environment department, seeking anonymity.

Since its inception, the MSTA has okayed the felling of at least 12,000 trees across the state -- with a large majority of requests coming from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Nagpur, and Pune. In addition, at least 300 heritage trees have been cleared for felling or transplantation, while at least another 5,000 trees were to be transplanted.

Out of the 753 trees, 358 (including 13 heritage trees) are slated to be transplanted. However, the meeting does not specify the recipient locations, leaving this up to the project proponents. This makes it a challenge to independently verify compliance, and environmentalists have previously demonstrated that transplantation exercises see very little rates of success.

Notably, the MSTA has in both instances, asked the proponents to submit indemnity bonds, absolving the former from any legal consequences.

Environment department officials were unable to immediately provide information regarding the success rate of various transplantation and compensatory afforestation exercises sanctioned by the Authority, saying that the data is not readily available and would have to be compiled.