Environmental activists have urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to reconsider its plan to remove 1,524 trees for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, warning that the move could worsen Mumbai’s heat, pollution and ecological degradation.
The Watchdog Foundation, a non-governmental organisation focused on civic and commuter rights, has submitted an objection to the BMC Tree Authority regarding the proposed felling and transplantation of trees for the fourth phase of the GMLR. The project stretches from the Western Express Highway in Goregaon to Airoli Toll Naka in Mulund and includes improvements to the junction connecting the Eastern Express Highway with the GMLR.
Foundation trustees Nicholas Almeida and advocate Godfrey Pimenta warned that removing the trees could have lasting consequences for biodiversity, air quality and urban temperatures.
Their objection follows a notice published by the Tree Authority on October 22, inviting citizens to submit feedback on the proposal. The foundation highlighted Mumbai’s unusually hot and humid October weather, arguing that expanding green cover is essential to address rising temperatures and pollution.
“Development cannot come at the cost of destroying the very environment that sustains us,” Pimenta stated, questioning the environmental price of infrastructure expansion.
The organisation has called on the civic administration to examine alternative project designs that would reduce tree loss and preserve the city’s remaining greenery. It has also appealed to elected corporators to oppose the proposal, stressing that residents’ health and environmental protection should remain priorities.
According to the BMC notice, the application was submitted by the executive engineer of the GMLR Bridge Department.
However, a civic official from the bridges department maintained that removing the trees was necessary to complete the project. “These trees are coming in the way of the GMLR project and there is no option but to fell them. Nothing can be done to save them,” the official said.
The BMC has provided a seven-day window from the notice’s publication for residents to submit objections and suggestions. A public hearing has been scheduled for October 30, between 4.30 pm and 6 pm, at the office of the superintendent of gardens and tree officer in Byculla.
The proposal has renewed debate over how Mumbai can expand its transport infrastructure while protecting urban greenery and limiting environmental damage.
Source: Hindustan Times
