Navi Mumbai: Citizen groups in Navi Mumbai raised alarm over the safety of mature banyan, peepal, and almond trees as the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) began widening roads and footpaths in Vashi. Work at Sector 28 involved deep excavation around the bases of several large trees, prompting calls for written assurance from the civic body. Madhu Shankar of the Human Chain Online forum said she alerted municipal officials upon noticing the digging. NMMC said every care would be taken to save the trees.“Initially, officials said the trees may have to be transplanted. Later, I was verbally assured that they would not be touched. But such informal assurances are not enough when the digging is already happening,” she said, urging the NMMC to issue a written clarification and secure the area around the trees. Environmental group NatConnect Foundation also intervened, with its director B N Kumar writing to municipal commissioner Kailas Shinde, seeking urgent action to ensure that not a single tree is harmed and to adopt a comprehensive tree policy to prevent such conflicts in future infrastructure projects.“There is no point planting saplings if they are eventually cut or uprooted for road and pavement works,” Kumar said. He noted that per capita tree cover in the NMMC area is just one, far below the recommended norm of at least three trees per person. Kumar added that the city must now seriously work towards implementing the globally accepted 3-30-300 green formula — three trees per person, 30 metres of visible green canopy around homes and workplaces, and 300 metres access to open green spaces.“In 55 years of Navi Mumbai’s existence, we managed only one tree per head. Achieving 3-30-300 will require a massive and determined effort,” Kumar said. NatConnect described the road-widening episode as a reminder that Navi Mumbai’s fragile green cover cannot withstand ad-hoc decisions. Nature enthusiasts demanded that the NMMC treat every mature tree as critical urban infrastructure and redesign projects to avoid damage. Residents now await a formal statement from the NMMC. For many, the concern is simple: once full-grown trees are lost, the city will not get them back for decades.
