Activists, civic body urge citizens to adopt trees

Mumbai: Environmental activists and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are urging societies, real estate developers, schools and other institutions to adopt trees and plants that have been axed for Metro construction work. As of now, 12,000 affected plants have been adopted but the number for fully-grown trees is still very less. Going by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC) count alone, nearly 5,000 trees are set to be razed for Metro-3.

The city has seen several plants being hacked for the Metro rail project. As part of the campaign led by non-profit organisation “Lets Green Foundation”, student volunteers adopted 52 Ficus plants from the construction site on Dahisar Link Road this week.

Subhajit Mukherjee, founder, Let’s Green Foundation, said, “Thousands of trees are set to be cut for the Metro project; many of them include full-grown trees. Although the civic body wants to transplant them, it is facing difficulties in finding plots for the same. We request societies, educational institutions and offices to come forward to help save the trees.”

So far, 12 big trees have been adopted under the campaign. According to a BMC official, the civic body will be doing the transplantation work free-of-cost, if the institutions provide free plots.