MUMBAI: Only 35% of trees transplanted for one of Mumbai’s flagship infrastructure projects, Metro Line 3, or the Aqua Line, have survived. And only half the number of saplings planted as compensatory afforestation for tree cover lost to the metro corridor and its car depot, have survived.
These findings prompted the Supreme Court to come down hard on the Maharashtra government for its “poor” track record in its afforestation efforts linked to major infrastructure projects. The apex court made this observation on October 27. It is monitoring all tree-related activity in the Aarey forest, after taking suo motu cognisance in 2019 following widespread protests over large-scale tree cutting in the area.
Construction of the 33.5-km, underground Metro Line 3 led to the felling of 4,941 trees – 2,800 trees at metro station sites, and another 2,141 trees at the car depot in Aarey Colony.
In lieu of this, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) claimed to have transplanted 1,643 mature trees in Aarey and 31 other locations. It also claimed to have planted 20,460 saplings as compensatory afforestation.
Reduced to stumps
An on-ground visit by Hindustan Times to Aarey, where most of the transplantation and afforestation initiatives are claimed to have been undertaken painted a distressing picture. Most of the transplanted trees were reduced to dead stumps or moss-covered trunks, many still bearing identification numbers. Bark had dried and peeled in several instances, while many trees showed fungal growth.
Afforestation plots showed withered saplings, large gaps where trees were missing, and uprooted remains lying unattended. In some areas, saplings were buried under construction debris, with no fencing or protective guards.
In several locations, saplings were barely three to four feet tall, unevenly spaced and planted without basins. The condition was consistent across Aarey.
The Supreme Court’s indictment of the Maharashtra government followed submissions by forest officials who showed that barely 50% of the 20,460 saplings planted as compensatory afforestation had survived.
Court-monitored inspections of transplanted trees paint a far grimmer picture. The inspections were carried out by a committee constituted by the Bombay High Court to monitor restorative efforts for lost tree cover due to Metro Line 3, formed after activist Zoru Bhathena approached the court.
During its ninth visit in November 2019, the committee found that 61% of the 1,643 transplanted trees were dead. The data showed a steady deterioration over time: 42% were dead in January 2018, rising to 56% by May 2019, and 61% by November 2019. In another survey, conducted by MMRDA in 2020, only 543 trees had survived.
Failure across sites
The committee’s assessment revealed failure across the city. In Aarey alone, several sites showed mortality rates exceeding 70%. At Aarey Unit No 21 (Package 7), 189 of 224 transplanted trees were dead, while at Aarey Gate N. 25/26 near the picnic point, 46 of 64 trees had perished.
Prominent locations such as CST, Siddhivinayak, Vidyanagari and MIDC showed high mortality, with dead stumps repeatedly removed or replaced, indicating what the committee described as “complete neglect”.
According to Bhathena, “The promise was that once the metro stations were ready, trees would be replanted at ground level. Not a single tree has been put back.”
As for the 20,400 saplings MMRCL’s claimed to have planted, Bhathena said these claims have never been transparently verified. “They have never shown us the saplings or trees on the ground. What is on paper and what exists on site are two completely different things,” he alleged.
Bhathena’s report to the high court flagged issues such as trees being planted in rubble-filled plots, lack of staking and watering, encasing tree bases in cement, and dumping debris on surviving tree basins.
The Supreme Court’s October 27 observations were based on a September inspection by forest officials of compensatory afforestation sites in Aarey and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The officials found that while records showed 20,460 saplings planted, nearly half had died due to poor soil quality, inadequate watering, grazing by animals and damaged fencing. Saplings that had survived, most of them one to two feet tall, showed “stunted and irregular growth”.
At Ramgad, one afforestation site, officials found no visible trees on the ground despite records indicating plantation activity. This was similar to what HT observed, with most saplings dead or withered. Many sites had no hint that saplings had ever been planted.
Afforestation is a sham
“Compensatory afforestation has become mere paperwork just to show that something was planted. In a hurry, saplings were pushed into random locations, even in the middle of slum areas. Afforestation here is a sham,” said Stalin Dayanand, director of NGO Vanashakti.
“A simple amendment reserving at least 30% area for trees in projects could change everything. For industries, such rules already exist,” he said.
The Metro Line 3 is one of Mumbai’s most contentious infrastructure projects, from an environmental standpoint. But the systemic failure in restoring green cover extends to other infrastructure and large-scale housing projects undertaken by the state government and its various agencies.
Experts say plantation initiatives are carried out without studying topography, drainage or species suitability, with saplings often planted in waterlogged areas or on sloping terrain.
Hemant Bedekar, botanist and tree transplantation expert, said survival depends on months of pre-treatment and post-transplant care. “Each tree needs root treatment, gradual pruning, proper watering and at least a year of maintenance. Here, trees were shifted within days, often into unsuitable land. I visited the site (Aarey) myself and found the land unsuitable for the plantation and also the lack of roots or other necessities for transplantation,” he said.
Subsequent committee visits reinforced these concerns. In its tenth report submitted after a June 2023 inspection, the committee noted that tree mortality had further deteriorated beyond the already high levels recorded in 2019.
It also found that not a single metro station site had restored its original tree cover, despite MMRCL’s undertaking to the high court, and that no provision had been made for replantation at locations such as Cuffe Parade, BKC, Vidyanagari and Siddhivinayak.
The report also flagged misleading claims of mass sapling plantation, including assertions that 9,000 saplings had been planted on a 3,000-sq m plot in an area that can accommodate only 150 trees of appropriate girth and height under Tree Authority norms. How, then, were so ,any accommodated? Many were shrubs or bushes, not trees, sleight of hand, at best.
A senior MMRCL official did not respond to questions sent by HT, relating to afforestation and transplantation failures.