BMC issues notice stating the trees in BDD chawls would be axed or transplanted, sparking citizens' ire
BDD chawl redevelopment, one of the biggest projects in Worli, will affect 625 trees, of which 253 will have to be axed and 372 will be transplanted. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently issued a notice, which elicited objections from several environmental activists and citizens.
The Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (MHADA), which is executing the chawl redevelopment, said that when the objections reach them, they will explain to the opposers that the damage is not much.
Zoru Bathena, amongst those who raised an objection, sent an email to the BMC's tree department which had come up with the notice earlier this month about the trees being hit.
"It is the duty of the Tree Officer to preserve and protect the tree cover in Mumbai. It is also their statutory duty to plant and maintain tree cover throughout the city, where it is scare. Any attempt to cut trees should be investigated and scrutinised in detail."
Another objection was sent by Kunal Birwadkar: "During the hearing at the office of the Superintendent of Gardens, I raised the issue that maximum trees at Worli BDD site are adjoining roads and bylanes. If there is no proposal for realigning these roads and bylanes, why are the trees being hacked unnecessarily? No mind application has been done before proposing the cutting of trees."
Meanwhile, MHADA's senior official who is looking after the BDD chawl redevelopment, said, "We aren't going to cut all the trees. There are some 253 trees which will be cut. For this, in keeping with the procedure, we have sent the details to the BMC's tree authority. For every tree cut, we will have to plant a certain number of trees and we will be planting most of the trees within the layout of BDD chawl."
"Also, we are going to transplant the remaining 372 trees within the same layout. When the objections reach me from the BMC's garden department, we will give satisfactory responses to the people who have protested. We will take those people to the site and answer their questions," he said.
CENTURY-OLD TENEMENTS
- BDD chawls were built after 1920, in Worli, Naigaon and Lower Parel.
- The 121 BDD chawls in Worli house 9,689 tenants and will require about Rs 10,700 cr to redevelop.
- The redevelopment process began in early 2004, but got stuck.
- The chawl residents are due to get the biggest houses under any redevpt scheme in the city so far.
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