400-odd trees to be removed for metro work

Mumbai: More than 400 trees are likely to be uprooted for metro projects in the western suburbs of Malad and Goregaon. However, Shiv Sena, the ruling party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has continued its staunch opposition to the tree cutting for metro projects.

In the civic tree authority meeting on Friday, Sena again vehemently opposed the tree cutting and transplantation proposals for metro projects and demanded detailed scrutinisation before approving them.

The civic administration has tabled a proposal before the civic tree authority for the construction of a depot and workshop at Charkop, Malad, for the Metro II A project, which required cutting and transplantation of 350 and 22 trees respectively. In addition to this, 15 and 23 trees are proposed to be cut and transplanted respectively for the construction of metro station at Goregaon.

However, Sena opposed the proposals, saying that it requires a large number of tree cutting. “More than 400 trees are to be either cut or transplanted for the metro projects. So the proposals need to be scrutinised in detail by visiting these places. It has to be seen whether the tree cutting and transplantation on large scale is really required for the projects,” said Shiv Sena corporator and house leader Yashwant Jadhav.

On Sena’s demand, both proposals were held back by the civic administration.

Sena has been opposing metro projects on the grounds of tree cutting. It has been opposing the Metro-3 project (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) by fiercely protesting against the cutting of large number of trees for the construction of the metro carshed at Aarey Colony.