It is clear from many instances that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is callous when it comes to protecting the greenery in Mumbai. Now, an activist has alleged that BMC has endangered 34 trees on the pretext of road repair work, at Charkop in Kandivli West. He claimed concrete is being poured close to the roots of the trees, posing a threat to them, in violation of National Green Tribunal laws.

'Tree bases being concretised'

Activist Shubhajit Mukherjee, who has been fighting to save trees, was shocked to see that these trees were endangered due to the road work. Speaking to mid-day, Mukherjee said, "Road construction across Mumbai is a threat to roadside trees as National Green Tribunal laws are not followed. It is mandatory to leave 3 feet by 3 feet space around a tree for the roots to breathe. The contractor carrying out the road repair work at Sector-2 at Charkop has choked the trees by concretising their bases. No effort is being made to protect the trees in Mumbai. In the past five years we lost more than 20,000 trees across Mumbai due to such concretisation."