192 trees to be felled for Sanpada subway

Five trees are to be planted for every tree being cut. While all this is good on paper, one doesn’t see it happening on the ground. ABA RANWARE,

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) plan to construct a vehicular subway on the busy Palm Beach Road at Sanpada has annoyed the environmentalists. Of the 224 trees that will be affected for the project, estimated to cost ₹25 crore, as many as 192 will be felled while a mere 32 will be transplanted.

“The air quality is worsening with each passing day. The civic body is speaking about developing Miyawaki-style urban forests and then it cuts trees for its projects. It will end up harming the environment,” Aba Ranware, a green activist, said.

However, NMMC city engineer Sanjay Desai has a different explanation.

“It is a service corridor. The existing trees were planted by the local residents and not by CIDCO or any other government agency. This is unplanned plantation,” he said.

He claimed that steps would be taken to ensure there was no harm to the environment. “No tree will die. We will scientifically replant them.”

The subway had been planned to provide motorists with an alternative access to Sanpada node, Desai said. “The subway will start near Kesar Solitaire building. The work will start subject to the permission of tree authority. The subway has been planned to be completed within nine months.”

The civic body has also planned to build a cycle track on Palm Beach Road which will affect 21 trees. This is other than the NMMC’s announcement last year that a flyover at ₹351 crore would come up between Vashi and Kopri. A total of 390 trees will be affected for the project.