Did Metro mislead court on hiring Singapore tree expert?
MMRC had assured court on the appointment
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), tasked with implementing the Metro 3 project, may have misled the Bombay High Court over the appointment of an arborist — tree expert — from Singapore, who would oversee the transplantation of the large number of trees that would have to be removed to make way for the project. It was on the basis of MMRC’s assurance that the court allowed the felling of the trees. In an email to Free Press
Journal, the Singaporean arborist, Simon Leong, has made it clear that he is yet to be appointed as a consultant, leave alone having already advised the Metro authorities on transplantation. On Tuesday, a senior official of the Metro 3 project told Free
Press Journal that the tree expert from Singapore was already in the city going round the various project sites. On being asked about this, Leong told this reporter via email that he was still in Singapore.
There’s more: MMRC had revealed the other terms of contract handed out to the expert to the court. Naming Simon as the arborist, the note said that he would draw a monthly fee of US $33,000 besides perks like housing allowance and air travel money. When a hue and cry was raised over the hefty fee, Simon Leong told a group of environmental activists that he was offered more than what he had asked for. Free Press Journal has a copy of the email that Leong had sent.
The Bombay High Court had allowed the felling of some trees after the MMRC had told the court that all care was being taken to ensure that trees would be replanted with expert advice.
City-based activists say they stand vindicated as they had repeatedly alleged that MMRC was giving false assurances. Environmentalist Zoru Bhathena told Free
Press Journal, “The MMRC does not even know how to carry out transplantation. They had given false assurance to the court.”
Metro 3 project will involve the felling of 1,074 trees, 1,727 will be transplanted and 3,222 new trees will be planted.