Mumbai’s little green cover is routinely encroached upon and is virtually extinct, thanks to development, residential building projects, uncaring politicians and a citizenry that is too caught up with their every day problems to monitor every green patch, clump of trees or parks that give some respite from the concrete jungle that is the city. We also have numerous examples of the death of mangrove belts in the city. Environmentalists talk about the time-consuming battles that they wage, trying to stop steady erosion of green cover in the city.

Perhaps, the hardest to stop is the hacking and chopping of trees in the city. Yesterday, this paper carried a front page report about a Bandra resident being beaten up by goons, after he tried to stop them from uprooting a mango tree in the vicinity where he lived. It is very difficult for ordinary citizens to protect trees from getting chopped. Most people are unaware about how, even with the best intentions, one can stop illegal felling of trees. Organisations that protect trees need to publicise ‘how’ people could access them. Most people do not even know that they have an avenue to turn to, in order to stop illegal tree felling.