Nearly 100 trees removed from Charkop, Sector 8, in Kandivali West for Mumbai’s Coastal Road North project will be replanted within the neighbourhood instead of being relocated outside the city. The trees, currently being kept at Powai, will be brought back following efforts by local residents, environmental activist Mili Shetty and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
The first phase of the transplantation drive is scheduled to begin at Datta Guru Udyan on Wednesday at 10.30 am. Two additional locations have been identified: a plot beside the local pond and the area outside K. B. Patil School. Both sites are in Sector 8, Charkop, and the necessary permissions have been secured.
“The trees were removed and kept at Powai. I was awaiting the permissions. Now I got the NOCs to transplant the same 98 trees at different spots at Charkop to restore our greenery. On Wednesday, the huge trees will be brought back to Charkop for transplantation. I thank MHADA officials for allowing the space in a garden to transplant the trees,” said Mili Shetty, a local resident and environmental activist.
The initiative is being viewed as an important step towards retaining neighbourhood greenery while infrastructure development progresses. Replanting the trees locally is also expected to help preserve habitats for birds and other urban wildlife, rather than shifting the existing green cover to distant locations.
The Coastal Road North project, also known as the Versova-Bhayandar Link Road, forms the second phase of Mumbai’s Coastal Road development. The project requires the diversion of 103.6554 hectares of mangrove forest land and is expected to affect more than 45,000 mangroves.
To compensate for the environmental loss, authorities plan to undertake plantation of 1.37 lakh mangroves across 255 hectares outside Mumbai.
The BMC received Stage II clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in July. Earlier, in June, the civic Tree Authority approved the removal of approximately 1,900 trees for the project. Construction is targeted for completion by December 2028.
The Charkop initiative highlights efforts to balance major infrastructure development with the preservation of local green spaces.
Source: The Free Press Journal
