Transplanting trees to save them........Swati Soni

 

A city within gardens and gardens within city - that’s  Malaysia’s USP. A garden in Mumbai however, is slightly harder to come by, with skyscrapers swiftly replacing every inch of open space there is in the city. A new initiative by the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is providing a ‘refreshing’ change for the city.

Implementing an innovative system of saving trees in the recent road widening project, the MUTP and MCGM have been transplanting all trees coming in the way of development instead of felling them. They have already transplanted around 900 trees across the city. Of these, 643 have been from the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road Project (JVLR) alone. MUTP has transplanted the trees to various locations like Aarey Milk Colony, IES School campus as well as around the BSES site.

“We chose Aarey Milk Colony because the trees are least disturbed there, and a lot of digging and trenching disturbs growth and may even kill the tree. Plus, the water table was high there, soil fertility was good, and proximity to the JVLR project was better,” says horticulturist Rai Singh.

“Road widening leads to cutting of trees, so we came up with tree transplantation solution to protect the environment,” says D Kawathkar, spokesperson for Mumbai Metropolitan Road Development Authority (MMRDA). The horticulturist decides what type of trees are suitable and accordingly need to be uprooted and transplanted. “We transplant trees that we know will grow and flourish. This technique gives us a 90 per cent success rate,” says an employee at the Garden Department. 

“Tree transplantation is a very unique project and there are various steps to it but once done, the tree can grow normally and healthy,” explains Kawathkar, adding that transplantation can be done in any area and even in poor weather situations. The only exceptions to this rule are fruit trees, which usually need to be felled.

Around 115 trees from Mahim will soon be transplanted to suitable locations. While transplanting trees is fine, the MMRDA and civic authorities need to look at planting trees in the city as well, if they are to offset the rising pollution levels and growing concrete jungle.


The process
• Preparing the tree for translocation
• Conditioning the tree at the original site
• Trenching
• Actual transplantation of the tree
• Hoisting the tree
• Planting
• Watering
• Application of insecticides and hormones

POSITIVES
• Environment protection
• If done in the right conditions, increasing the life span of trees 
 
Flip Side
• Expensive affair if trees must be transplanted afar
• Trees must be transplanted within two hours

SUITABLE TREES
• Tabubia rosia
• Delonix regia
• Mimusops hexendra
• Acacia mangium

swatim.soni@timesgroup.com

 

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