In boost for greens, MLA steps in to save 200 trees from being axed

Following the earlier protest by citizens and green activists demanding the cancellation of a plan to hack over 200 trees at an MIDC plot in Pawane, Airoli MLA Ganesh Naik has stepped in and written to MIDC saying not a single tree should be cut. He said project-affected persons (PAPs) could be resettled on some other land.
MIDC had earlier planned to allot plots for PAPs on a green patch developed by a private petrochemical company by officially leasing out the plot OS-7 at Pawane.The PAPs are those who have lost their land to various infra projects over the past 20 years.
Activists said it would be insane to cut so many trees in what is considered the region's green lung. NatConnect Foundation said the patch would be destroyed if MIDC goes ahead with its plan to end the lease and divide it into small plots under the guise of compensating PAPs. NatConnect director B N Kumar called on Naik to discuss a series of environmental issues plaguing the city and seek his support to raise them in the state legislature’s monsoon session beginning on Thursday. Kumar said they were not against PAPs being resettled, but only that greenery should not be destroyed.
Naik confirmed that he has asked MIDC to spare plot OS-7 and look out for an alternative place for the PAPs. “Nobody in the right state of mind would allow destruction of 200 trees nurtured with so much care amid this chemical belt,” Naik said, appreciating the efforts of activists in creating awareness about the need to save the green patch. "I will physically come to the spot if anyone tries even to touch the trees," he said.
NatConnect had earlier sent an email to CM Eknath Shinde.
The one-acre plot was originally a swamp and a neighbouring private company dealing with hydrocarbons volunteered to develop it into a green patch over 20 years ago. MIDC had agreed to it and leased it out, documents obtained by NatConnect show. The company undertook plantation and now about 200 trees, including several fully grown palm trees and flower bearing plants, stand there, presenting a beautiful view, Kumar said.
Trees in urban areas filter the air and remove harmful particles. They also help regulate water, preventing flooding and protecting watersheds, according to a press communique from the UN.
Kumar said the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), which has been conducting tree census, was responsibile to save the greenery. NatConnect is also taking up the issue with NMMC.
As it is, the per capita open space is woefully low in the so-called planned city of Navi Mumbai, the not-for-profit NatConnect pointed out. Against the Centre's stipulation of about 10,000 sqm per thousand population under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), NMMC open space works out 3,000 sqm (.3 hectare per 1,000 people).
All open areas and places earmarked for ‘maidans’ are being gobbled up by the state government-owned city planner CIDCO. With just about 5% land remaining to be developed and 3,77,000 projected population rise by 2038, Navi Mumbai must focus on open spaces and green lungs and not expand concrete jungles, Kumar argued. Between MIDC and CIDCO, they should work out a proper plan for settling PAPs, another environmentalist said, adding that it was shocking that the city was still working on rehabilitating PAPs even six decades after the creation of the industrial belt and the planned city.
A local spokesperson of MIDC in Navi Mumbai said that while there is a plan to allot this plot to PAPs, after the intervention of the MLA, they have instructed their staff not to damage the trees, while respecting the sentiments of nature lovers.