Who monitors transplanted trees? Not our job, says Bhopal Municipal Corporation

BHOPAL: Wonder how trees that were translocated or replanted due to 'development projects' in the state capital are doing? Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has no answers.
The civic body doesn't have any records or documentation regarding "geological authentication report and vitality certification of trees" that have been replanted or translocated for various projects over several decades, says information obtained through RTI query.
It will come as a shock to city residents who are celebrating a hard-fought victory to stop the felling of 29,000 trees in the heart of Bhopal.
BMC lacks any data on the number of trees felled, impaired or translocated. Environmentalist Nitin Saxena had to wait over 18 months to receive this startling response from the corporation. "BMC does not engage in the shifting of old and green trees and, therefore, cannot provide the requested information," was the civic body's reply.
"What is BMC concealing?" asks an equally shocked and perplexed Saxena. He had filed the RTI query requesting BMC records related to relocation of trees, including species such as banyan, peepal and neem, in connection with various projects undertaken by BMC.
"If this is the situation in the state capital, one can only imagine the predicament in other urban areas," he remarked.
The RTI query also sought information on geological verification report and vitality certificate of these trees, and inquired about measures taken in relation to a 300-year-old banyan tree at Kamala Park that perished in a storm in 2022.
BMC conveyed its inability to provide the information, asserting that it was beyond its jurisdiction.
“The procedure will be reassessed, and wherever required, data will be compiled,” said BMC commissioner Harendra Narayan.
As per MP Vrikshon Ka Parirakshan (Nagariya Kshetra) Adhiniyam, 2001, govt appoints a ‘tree officer’ for urban areas. In Bhopal, it’s the BMC commissioner.
“The Act entrusts BMC commissioner with the responsibility of safeguarding the city’s green cover. There needs to be an investigation since nearly 50,000 trees have been lost in two decades. What is their status and the expenditure incurred?” Saxena told TOI.
According to the Act, anyone who wants to cut, remove or dispose of a tree, by any means must submit an application to the ‘tree officer’, who processes the application. Only after inspection can permission be granted. The applicant must plant the tree within 30 days and provide effective protection.
Since the dawn of the new millennium, Bhopal has witnessed rapid expansion — and consequent depletion of greenery. Most of the projects that have eroded the city’s green cover are associated with BMC. Around 1,600 trees were felled for Smart City, 1,400 for the 26-km BRTS project, and close to 1,000 for laying the Narmada pipeline.
The BMC commissioner spearheaded the Narmada water supply project, and the same officer is the director of Bhopal Smart City. BCLL, which undertook the BRTS project, is a wholly-owned BMC subsidiary. PWD and other agencies too have been involved in various projects that led to loss of green cover. Private constructions are also under the ambit of law.