Railways to plant 8,000 saplings on all three lines

Good news for commuters who travel by Mumbai’s local trains — the view from your window seat will no longer be an eyesore. The railways and state forest department plan to plant 8,000 saplings along the western, central and harbour lines this year.

While 5,000 saplings will be planted along the central and harbour line, the western line will get 3,000 saplings before monsoon begins, officials told HT.

The move comes a day after the railways and state forest department signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to plant 60,000 tree plantings across railway tracks in Maharashtra. The efforts are part of the forest department’s commitment to plant 4 crore saplings between July 1 and July 7 this year.

Forest officials said the agreement was a significant step towards achieving a ‘green Maharashtra’.

“Large-scale forest and non- forest plantation is necessary to increase the state’s forest cover from 20% to 33%,” said forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. “We are trying to increase the state’s forest cover through public participation. We value the railway department’s support ” he added.

In June 2016, Mungantiwar met railway minister Suresh Prabhu, seeking that land around the state’s railway be freed up so trees could be planted there. Prabhu agreed.

Last year, however, the railways was not part of the record-breaking 2.83 crore saplings planted across the state. As many as 85% of these trees survived. The plantation drive was acknowledged by the Limca Book of Records

This year, railway officials said the least number of saplings will be planted in Mumbai city owing to a lack of space. The most number of trees will be planted in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. “We have identified a few locations between Churchgate and Borivli, where 700 to 800 saplings will be planted. The majority of saplings — about 2,200 — will be planted between Virar and Dahanu,” said Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer, Western Railway.

“Retired railway officials have been growing vegetables on small patches in central parts of Mumbai for a long time. We will plant saplings in these areas and ensure that railway lines from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Thane and CST to Chembur get more than 1,500 saplings,” said Narendra Patil, CPRO, Central Railways