Mumbai: The garden department of the BMC K-East ward issued a notice to MIAL regarding concretisation of trees around tree stumps on the road leading to Sahar police station and Cargo Complex near airport Terminal 2.
Following a complaint, the garden department issued a notice to MIAL and asked them to immediately remove the concrete. The notice warns of action under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, if they fail to do the same. Meanwhile, responding to the notice, BMC staffers claimed that the airport operators have already started removing the concrete around the trees.
Earlier, the Watchdog Foundation wrote to authorities and complained that around 50 odd trees located on Sahar Village Road leading to Sahar Police Station and Sahar Cargo Complex were choking due to excessive concretisation around their roots, preventing proper water percolation and circulation of air. The foundation pointed out that this practice weakens the trees and makes them prone to falling during monsoon, and it also violates the Indian Road Congress (IRC) norms and the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.
According to the foundation, as per established guidelines, a minimum of a 1-metre radius around the base of a tree must be left open for water absorption and root aeration. However, in multiple locations, this norm was blatantly ignored by MIAL, leading to environmental degradation and the gradual deterioration of the city’s green cover.
“The base of about 50 trees on the Sahar Village Road, near Terminal 2, leading to Sahar Police Station and Sahar Cargo Complex were concretised while they were carrying out road works,” said a BMC official. The notice directed MIAL to remove concretisation around the trees immediately and leave a space of 1 metre around the trees open.