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BMC to finally start counting trees Mumbai: After a period of nine years, the BMC will conduct the much-needed tree census in the city. Following a PIL on the indiscriminate felling of trees in the city, a year back the BMC had promised the high court that it would complete the tree census by December 2006. However, the BMC's Tree Authority has now pushed the deadline for the tree census exercise further to June 2007. The BMC had last undertaken the census in 1998 even though the Maharashtra (urban areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act (1975) states that the exercise has to be carried out once every five years. It has assigned the task of coming up with a detailed profile of the green cover in the city to a private organisation, 'Environmental and Biotechnology Foundation' (ENBITECH), which has earlier carried out the tree census in Nashik, Thane and Mira-Bhayander. A team of around 30 horticulturists from ENBITECH is currently carrying out a ward-byward survey that covers trees on all public and private properties. "The current census is likely to show an increase in the green cover as the scope of inclusion has been increased. Earlier census in 1998 took into account only trees with more than six inches diameter at the height of four feet above the ground, but the current census will include trees or plants with the stem having a diameter of 1.5 inches,'' said SA Hegde, deputy superintendent of gardens (tree authority). The team has been physically measuring the girth of trees and recording details such as height, type, age, condition, number of trees as well as specific details such as whether it belongs to some rare species. Civic officials have requested property owners to cooperate with these teams and to let them carry out work in their premises. "The census helps in striking a balance through planned plantation and also in conserving rare trees or treating and saving unhealthy trees,'' added Hegde. As per the 1998 census, Mumbai has over 5 lakh trees. R-North (Dahisar) ward had the maximum number of trees (61,007) followed by S (Bhandup) ward (56,759) while B (Nagpada) ward had the least green cover (11,652 trees). Old core areas like Vile Parle, Hindu colony in Dadar were found to have a rich variety of vegetation that was well protected by local citizens. Public places in areas such as MG Road, Unnat Nagar, Yeshwant Nagar in P South (Goregaon) ward have a good number of old trees and a satisfactory cover. Constant digging was found to be affecting the roots of trees, uprooting them during the monsoon. The tree cover in private properties was greater as compared to public properties. Most common avenue trees were Gulmohar, Ashok, Copper Pod, Karanj and Ladyfingers. Most common trees in private properties were Banyan, Peepal and Jamun. toireporter@timesgroup.com URL http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzAyLzI3I0FyMDA0MDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom |
