Greens’ SOS to CM on ‘AQI Time Bomb’
assets/blog-post/The clearance permits felling 45 trees and transplanting 70 from a plot near Shimmering Heights
MUMBAI, Nov 29 (The CONNECT)- Protesting the impending loss of 100 fully grown trees in Powai, residents and environmental groups have raised an urgent alarm as large-scale cutting began on a private plot in Chandivali.
The tree-cutting and transplantation permission was granted in February 2024, but the chopping has begun only now, triggering fresh outrage across the neighbourhood.
NatConnect Foundation has shot off an urgent email to the Chief Minister and the BMC Commissioner calling for a complete overhaul of Mumbai’s tree policy and demanding an immediate halt to further cutting and transplantation, warning that Powai’s fragile ecology cannot take another hit. The environment watchdog described the sudden destruction of a mature canopy as “heart-wrenching and ecologically reckless.”
NatConnect sought immediate action to stop the tree massacre. The appeal stresses the ecological cost, the AQI threat and the absence of any fresh public communication on the year-old clearance. Residents said escalating the matter to the top was the only way to stop the relentless chopping.
The clearance permits felling 45 trees and transplanting 70 from a plot near Shimmering Heights in Chandivali’s L Ward. For locals, the abrupt start to on-ground activity marks a severe ecological setback in an area already battling shrinking green cover and deteriorating air quality. Moreover, there is no guarantee of survival of either the transplanted trees or the compensatory plantation, NatConnect said.
Adding to public distrust, residents pointed to the recent Aarey Metro shed compensatory plantation scam, where hundreds of saplings failed to survive or were never planted at all. They said this exposes deep flaws in the current system and reinforces the urgent need to overhaul Mumbai’s tree policy through transparent, science-based processes and thorough public consultation.
Tree-cutting teams arrived on Thursday, prompting shocked residents to reach out to NatConnect. Director B N Kumar immediately alerted Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who asked Additional Municipal Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs) Amit Saini to verify the situation. But the cutting resumed on Friday morning, intensifying fears that decades-old trees would be lost before authorities could intervene.
“This is not just losing trees. These are natural oxygen plants, carbon sinks and biodiversity hubs,” NatConnect said, pointing out that Mumbai’s tree cover stands at merely one tree for every four citizens—far below the recommended three per person. With the city’s AQI repeatedly slipping into the ‘poor’ category this winter, the group warned that felling mature trees amounts to “triggering an AQI time bomb.”
Local leaders echoed the concern. “Compensatory plantation may look good on paper, but it does not compensate ecological loss,” said Pravin Kumar Yadav, chairman of Shimmering Heights Cooperative Housing Society. Residents were stunned to see 20-year-old giants being axed without any fresh public intimation.
Powai resident Manoj Samudra explained the science: a two-decade-old tree delivers carbon sequestration, canopy cover, air purification, groundwater recharge and wildlife habitat that saplings cannot match for decades. “Numerical replacement ignores canopy volume, biomass and carbon stock lost instantly upon felling,” he said.
Though the Tree Authority mandates seven years of sapling maintenance, residents said this was inadequate. “A juvenile canopy cannot provide the ecological services of a mature tree. Real compensation requires at least 20–25 years of protection,” Samudra said.
Pamela Cheema, chairperson of the BMC-appointed Advanced Locality Management Committee, said she was “deeply shocked” that another green pocket was being erased. “When will planners realise that trees in Mumbai are survival systems, not landscaping?” she asked.
