Over 25 trees have been felled recently on a land owned by AAI. Residents fear that sooner or later, this plot of land, a green zone, will be encroached by slum dwellers.
Over 25 trees have been felled recently on a land owned by Airport Authority of India (AAI). Residents fear that sooner or later, this plot of land, a green zone, will be encroached by slum dwellers.
With an already existing slum at Nehru Nagar which is bordering the AAI land and no protection being offered by the police for the construction of a wall around it, the green zone is vulnerable to encroachment. The land is right behind Juhu police station.
A concerned resident of the area and author Siddharth D Shanghvi has been pursuing the matter with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Tree Authority and the AAI for the past six months. He said that trees were being burnt with kerosene, and out of the 200 trees at least 60 had been wiped off from the green zone.
According to Shanghvi, when he went to Juhu police station along with Sherley Singh from Juhu Scheme Residents’ Association (JSRA), the police told them that they had no right to register an FIR.
“What astonished me is the disgusting inefficiency of the tree officer and the Juhu police station, where the policemen were reluctant to lodge an FIR about the illegal tree-felling. I had photographs of the criminals. What more did the cops want?,” said Shanghvi.
Shanghvi said that the destruction of a tree on a green zone is a non-cognisable offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The only reason I can understand why trees are being felled is the major mushrooming of slums. There is a nexus of slumlords working in Nehru Nagar. Why isn’t the AAI constructing a wall for protection?” said Sherley Singh, secretary, JSRA.
“We have received photographs from Shanghvi and we will use them to lodge an FIR. But the onus of protection of the land lies with AAI as it is in their possession,” said SP Mohite, junior tree officer, K(West) ward.
When JB Pathadia, senior manager (aerodrome), AAI, was contacted, he said, “I’ll inquire into the matter.”
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