A division bench consisting of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite Dhere said, "Something needs to be done to prevent the trees from dying, all that we see these days are trees vanishing from Mumbai."
Observing that steps need to be taken on an urgent basis to stop city's green cover from shrinking further, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to enumerate the steps it has taken to save rain trees which are dying dying due to mealy bug infection.
A division bench consisting of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite Dhere said, "Something needs to be done to prevent the trees from dying, all that we see these days are trees vanishing from Mumbai." The court made these observations while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a Khar resident, Zoru Bhathena.
As per the petition, since 2010, trees between Khar and Borivali have been infected by the bug and the BMC has not been able to identify any cause or cure, following which over 100 trees have died. BMC counsel Trupti Puranik informed the court that several steps have been taken by the BMC and it is also ready to take guidance from the departments of Botany and Horticulture to protect the trees."
The petition states that BMC collects tree cess, which is included in the property tax, and so is duty bound to protect the trees. Further, it states that a Pune-based central government organisation, Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Science, Agharkar Research institute has some remedial measures and those should be adopted by the civic body to protect the trees. Several trees can be seen dead in the Western suburbs, which are now being painted by graffiti artists.
The petition prayed for directions to the BMC to protect the trees, replace dead trees with new ones and take steps to increase tree cover in the city. The court posted the matter for further hearing on December 22.
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