CJP Jantar Mantar Protest Updates
As per the data, between April 2024 and April 2026, PMC planted 17,533 new saplings in lieu of felled trees for various projects. But when asked if these saplings survived or perished, PMC simply stated: “The information is not available”. Corporator Datta Bahirat from the Gokhalenagar-Wakdewadi area, who had raised this query in the GB meeting, said, “PMC lacks a proper policy for compensatory afforestation and transplantation. They have also not constituted a proper Tree Authority as mandated under Section 3 of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.” Bahirat, with civic activist Pushkar Kulkarni, moved Bombay high court in June, with a petition that said both PMC and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation were operating illegally as far as a Tree Authority is concerned. The PIL demanded immediate constitution of a Tree Authority and a stay on all decisions taken by the PMC and PCMC commissioners acting as the Tree Authority. Advocate Satya Muley, who is representing the petitioners, said, “We demand quashing of all decisions taken by PMC and PCMC chiefs acting as the Tree Authority since Jan, and have sought a stay on any further decisions they may take. As per the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines, we need at least four crore trees for a population of 60 lakh. PMC’s tree census of 2024 states that there are only 57 lakh trees — and this shortfall is growing by the day.” The law states that for trees 50 years or older, authorities must plant a number of compensatory saplings equal to the exact age of the tree cut (say for a 100-year-old tree, 100 saplings must be planted). For younger trees in urban limits, the ratio is typically 1:3 (three saplings planted for every one tree felled). Saplings must be at least 6-8ft tall at the time of planting to ensure a higher survival rate. The responsible agency must care for and nurture the saplings for a minimum of seven years. Under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, any entity building the infrastructure is legally required to factor compensatory plantation costs into their project budgets. But green enthusiasts pointed out that the civic body displays a shocking lack of will to look after flora planted under compensatory afforestation. Senior botanist Nandu Kulkarni, who has tracked workings of the Tree Authority and garden department for the last 30 years, said, “Many trees don’t survive transplantation as due botanical process is not followed. Those under compensatory afforestation often don’t live as proper care is not taken later.” Private contractors, who carry out compensatory plantation for PMC, admitted as much. They said they get around Rs1,000 per sapling from the civic body for planting and maintenance, which doesn’t go very far. One such contractor, choosing anonymity, claimed, “There are also many cases where trees are just planted for completing formalities. These don’t survive, especially if they are not looked after properly.” Kulkarni said, “The concept of tree maintenance does not exist for either the Tree Authority or PMC garden department, whether it is compensatory plantations, transplanted or existing trees. Besides being felled for projects, some trees fall due to termite infestations, and some are killed by being choked in cement. All these need to be compensated for.” When TOI spoke to PMC’s chief garden superintendent Ashok Ghorpade, he said they are planning a survey to check on the status of the compensatory plantations. “This activity is carried out in a decentralised manner, which means it is done at the ward-level, and data is also available there. However, data has yet to be compiled at the PMC level. Instructions have been given in April to ward officers to collect and share data,” he said. According to India’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016: ‘Afforestation efforts must prioritize indigenous, native species that suit the local climate and soil and to support local wildlife, at least 25% of the selected tree species must be fruit-bearing. Plantations must be heterogeneous in nature, with the cultivation of monocultures, commercial exotics, and horticultural crops generally avoided.‘ Asked about this, Ghorpade said, “PMC promotes planting of native trees as mandated by law. Awareness is being created by the civic body on the importance of native trees via various programmes and social media.” Another major issue pointed out by civic activists is that the location of transplantation or compensatory plantation is often far away from where trees were uprooted in the first place. This is not just a cause for low survival rates, but a major contributor to the city’s growing temperatures. At present, spaces available with the forest department, on hills, at govt and private colleges are used for compensatory plantation. But experts pointed to the need for a more comprehensive system. Botanist Sachin Punekar said, “Better coordination is needed to identify available spaces for tree plantation, even for private players. For this, the civic bodies could play the role of coordinator. A committee or group dedicated to tree planting should be formed, which can take various NGOs and govt authorities on board.” But many citizens fighting to protect the city’s greenery feel all this may be too little too late. Ameet Singh, founder of ChaloPMC, said, “Lakhs of trees have been felled in Pune over the years under the guise of development. Most times, it is sans permission. Some estimates put it at nine out of 10 trees being felled without following due process. Now, harmful emissions in the city are over 1 lakh tonne per day. To offset this, we need a ratio of 100-150 trees per person, but what we actually have is one tree per two people. This is why we suffer the fury of climate events — heat impact, pollution crises and drought-like summers with thunderstorms breaking the spell. Every tree is precious and our only defence against the vagaries of the weather. Our city’s climate resilience depends on trees alone.” Expert Speak Transplantation success rates in India are hardly 30-40%. It is done more for show than actual benefits. Also, the place from where trees are removed typically get concreted, converting a cool spot into a heat island. This is a completely wrong approach in a world battling with a climate crisis. Trees are the most natural and cost-effective way to combat the heat island effect. More effort must be put into rethinking infra projects designs so old-growth trees can be saved, rather than hiding behind practically ineffective ‘solutions’ like transplanting — Priyadarshini Karve | Convenor, Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC)
