The saplings were supposed to make the promenade green again, after it was stripped of all its trees during the beautification process.

Today, more than half of these saplings are dead or dying — the green plan now just a row of bamboo sticks with no plants left to support.

“Most of the saplings are dead or won’t survive the monsoon,” said horticulturist U.N. Singh, a nominated member of the civic Tree Authority . “Baringtoneas are semi-woody, slow-growing trees. Such small saplings could never have survived the monsoon and strong winds. They should not have been planted here.” Singh has written to the mu nicipal commissioner highlight ing the issue.

But the MMRDA, which is in charge of the project, claims 98 per cent of the saplings have survived. “We planted about 400 trees before the mon soon and 98 per cent have survived,” said joint project director Dilip Kawatkhar.

Environmentalists say even the trees taken from Marine Drive and replanted at Oval Maidan have died. “About 153 coconut trees were transplanted three years ago, but very few have survived,” said Niranjan Shetty of I Love Mumbai, also a nominated member of the Tree Authority .

The authority has now asked the MMRDA to replace the saplings on Marine Drive with more sturdy baringtoneas. “We met the MMRDA engineer and asked him to plant older saplings that can survive the strong winds and rain,” said Superintendent of Gardens Vijay Dande.

Singh is also pushing for a ‘tree bank’, where saplings can grow to a certain height at the municipal nursery before being planted in the city to give them a better chance of survival. The idea has been mooted and accepted in the past, but not implemented.

“The concept of tree banks is followed around the world and even in Hyderabad and Surat.

We need one here,” said Singh.

The Tree Authority has said it is working on implementation.

OVER 1,000 TREES TO MAKE WAY FOR EASTERN FREEWAY

*  The glorious canopies from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya to Anik in Chembur may have to go. The Tree Authority on Wednesday sanctioned the cutting down or transplanting of more than 2,000 trees across the city. Among these were 1,011 trees on this 11-km stretch that will become the Eastern Freeway, with 423 tress to be axed and 588 transplanted.

*  An elevated road that will connect Colaba and Ghatkopar, the Eastern Freeway is a project handled by the MMRDA.

*  Unhappy with the decision, activists nominated to the Tree Authority said they would lodge a complaint against the “slaughter”. They have time to file a detailed complaint.

* “Though the proposal has been cleared, the trees will be cut only when the project begins and the need to cut the tress will again be assessed,” said Tree Authority member Samir Desai.

* The green campaigners in the Tree Authority said they were not against development but wanted compensation for the trees lost.

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