Navi Mumbai: Green activists have urged the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to take immediate action to protect 200 trees in Pawane that are at risk of being cut down. While they welcomed the civic body’s tree plantation efforts in the MIDC area under the ‘Maajhi Vasundhara’ campaign, they also highlighted the urgent need to safeguard Pawane’s green cover to protect the environment.
On Friday, NMMC Commissioner Dr. Kailas Shinde directed civic officials to enhance the city’s rankings under the Maajhi Vasundhara campaign and include the industrial area in large-scale tree plantation efforts. Navi Mumbai topped the rankings under Category C municipal corporations for 2023-24.
NatConnect Foundation, which has been advocating for the preservation of the 200 trees in the heavily polluted Pawane chemical zone, has requested the commissioner’s intervention to protect a green patch on a 3,600 sq. m. open space (OS-7).
The trees are now threatened as MIDC has allocated a 300 sq. m. plot within this designated open space to a project-affected person (PAP) for commercial use.
NatConnect Foundation director B.N. Kumar emphasized that while there is no objection to rehabilitating the project-affected, it should not come at the cost of destroying trees. He suggested that alternative locations be considered for PAP resettlement.
“It is contradictory that authorities promote green cover on one hand while simultaneously allowing the destruction of fully grown trees,” Kumar remarked.
Kumar has also approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), arguing that MIDC’s regulations prohibit commercial activity in designated open spaces under the development plan (DP). Additionally, he pointed out that Navi Mumbai’s green cover and open spaces fall significantly below the standards set by the Union Government and the World Health Organization.
MIDC has requested an extension for filing its rejoinder, which the NGT’s western zonal bench granted. The next hearing is scheduled for March 26.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that some individuals have begun excavation on the disputed plot using iron rods and have brought in tin sheets, raising concerns about unauthorized construction.
State Forest Minister Ganesh Naik has also intervened, instructing MIDC officials not to disturb the green patch, Kumar said.