MMRC hasn’t transplanted single tree at Aarey: RTI

Mumbai: It seems that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) is not aware of the number of trees transplanted in Aarey Colony.

Contrary to MMRC’s claims that it has transplanted 50 trees affected by Metro line 3, a RTI query has revealed that zero trees have been transplanted till date.

When “details of number of trees transplanted by MMRC for affected Metro line 3 project in Aarey Milk Colony area” was asked, the answer to the RTI query came as “nil”.

It may be noted that the RTI was filed on June 9 by activist Godfrey Pimenta while details were received on June 15. Asked about the same, a MMRC spokesperson  said, “The RTI information pertains to the date of application, however as on date, we have transplanted more than 450 trees from the station sites /alignment of Metro line 3 following the guidelines stated by the tree authority.”

However, a MMRC report dated June 6 said that the number of trees transplanted after lifting the high court stay was 55 from Cuffe Parade, 12 from Vidhan Bhavan, and 27 from Hutatma Chowk.