As per former councillor Shilpa Chogle, residents of Borivali's Rajendra Nagar informed her about holes being drilled into four coconut trees on December 26.
It took twelve days for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to act on complaints made by activists from Borivali with regard to a few trees being poisoned by holes being drilled into them.
As per former councillor Shilpa Chogle, residents of Borivali's Rajendra Nagar informed her about holes being drilled into four coconut trees on December 26.
"I, immediately, filed complaints with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's R/Central ward, as well as with the Kasturba Marg Police station. But, neither of the authorities conducted a site-visit or initiated any kind of investigation until January 7. The leaves have already begun falling out and we have a hunch that chemicals injected through the drilled holes might kill the trees," Chogle said. She further said that when she called the BMC officials for a site-visit on Saturday, they excused themselves saying it was a half working day and they have to leave.
The trees are located close to old MHADA chawls, where redevelopment projects along with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) is being carried out. Some of the residents, on the condition of anonymity, said that they had seen a few people violating the coconut trees. However, on being asked, these people said they wanted to put up boards. The locals suspect that the offenders might have poisoned the trees to ensure they don't come in the way of constructions.
"The drilling of holes into these trees is suspicious. The trees have been there for almost four to five decades; they were planted by some of the chawl residents. We regularly hear of cases of tree poisoning in similar ways. However, no efforts are made by the authorities to identify the culprits or to save such trees. The civic body seems to have no concern for the city's green cover," activist Gopal Jhaveri said.
A senior BMC official said that the staff visited the site on Monday and even cleaned the holes drilled with water by using jet sprays. "We are looking into the matter and will take action as per law," the official said.
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