August 26, 2025: Mumbai’s Environmental Status Report (ESR) 2024–25 has come under sharp criticism, with activists and environmental experts challenging the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) claim that more than 20,000 trees were planted in the past year. Despite these assertions, the official tally of 29.75 lakh trees has remained unchanged across every ward for the last four years, prompting allegations of data recycling and concealment of tree loss.
Campaigners argue that the discrepancy highlights systemic flaws in urban green governance. They contend that repeated announcements of large-scale plantation drives amount to little more than greenwashing, with no transparent tree census to back the figures. Experts also point out that saplings rarely survive in large numbers and that the felling of mature trees for infrastructure projects is often excluded from official reports. “The city has virtually run out of viable spaces for new plantations,” one expert observed, questioning how annual increases can still be reported.
Concerns are particularly strong in South Mumbai, where activists allege that hundreds of old trees have been felled without disclosure. Local groups are demanding an independent census distinguishing live trees from stumps, warning that mere enumeration of plantations fails to address the ecological vacuum left by lost decades-old species.
Residents in Kandivali have also contested civic claims, noting that many saplings were planted by citizens but later listed under BMC drives. Similar concerns have been raised over the Versova–Dahisar Link Road project, where locals believe more than 1,000 trees are threatened, contrary to the official estimate of 190.
While civic officials admit that space for fresh plantations is scarce, they cite other measures such as pruning 1.4 lakh trees, freeing 1,767 from concrete enclosures, and removing 798 hazardous ones. However, experts warn that maintenance alone cannot replace authentic growth. Without transparent, independently audited data, scepticism over Mumbai’s tree cover is set to deepen.
Source: Urban Acres
