Urban News

“We have already issued tenders and are awaiting response from AP’s Rajahmundry as well as nurseries in Gujarat, Karjat and Pune that provide the fully-grown trees. Of the 1 lakh trees, while 10,000 would be planted on roads, 90,000 trees will be planted in playgrounds and gardens across Mumbai. We will also plant trees on the periphery of a few textile mill plots in the city,” deputy municipal commissioner (Gardens) Chandrashekhar Rokde said.

As many as 30 species, including the indigenous Banyan and the exotic Khaya (a type of mahogany), have been shortlisted. “Evergreen trees have been considered, since they churn out oxygen throughout the year, thereby fighting pollution effectively,” said a Tree Authority member.

BMC officials said procuring trees from AP may be ruled out this time because of the extra transportation costs it incurs. “While Andra Pradesh nurseries are admittedly world-class, our cost tends to rise owing to transporation costs. We would probably finalise the project with Gujarat, Karjat or Pune,” Rokde said.

Amid criticism from many quarters, the civic department had purchased 7,200 fully-grown trees - raised up to 10 foot high in a nursery — from Rajahmundry in December 2009.

Rokde said these trees will be counted during tree census. The full-grown trees have a high survival rate of 90-95 per cent as compared to saplings that have only 50 per cent of survival rate. 

Avinash Kubal, a nominated member of the Tree Authority and the director of Maharashtra Nature Park, Dharavi, said most of the Rajahmundry trees have now been planted lining Hughes Road, Worli Seaface, Vikhroli-Jogeshwari Link Road and LBS Marg in the eastern suburbs, Linking Road on the Western Express Highway, and a few public parks in Bhandup and Ghatkopar.

“We have planted most of the trees in the pre-summer months ie;February and March. Now almost all of them have survived and growing well. The overall success rate is high,” Kubal said. Rokade pointed out that around 10 trees may have died but it happened mostly due to unnatural reasons. “Some perished during digging of roads by various utilities and some other were destroyed in road accidents.”