Concretisation across Navi Mumbai is leading to the loosening of soil and uprooting of trees. File photo/dna
Monsoon certainly brings immediate respite from hot and humid climate, but also spells trouble for trees as in many cases of trees are being uprooted and also the loosening of soil leads to many falling apart. The main reason for this is concretisation.
As per the data available with the disaster management cell, every year there has been a sharp increase in number of trees being uprooted during monsoon and this is a sorry figure for city’s ecology. City’s environmentalists blame it on rapid concretisation as one of the most prominent reason for collapsing of trees during monsoon.
In 2014, 26 trees were reported to have fallen and the figure doubled in 2015 with 52 trees. “Every year, good amount of trees fall during monsoon. However, they doubt if the civic body has learnt any lessons from the past incidents to curb further tree loss this year,” said environmentalists.
Abba Ranware, a Juinagar environmentalists, said, “When any type of drainage or ground work is being conducted, roots of the trees get affected as they are cut and this, eventually, leads to imbalance of trees, loosening of soil and then the rains are enough to uproot them.”
Every year, the garden department of the NMMC starts pruning trees before monsoon and also makes a list of dangerous trees. “Housing societies too are asked to ready a list and notify the department, but authorities don’t take enough measures to protect trees,” alleged a resident.
“During summer, many trees go dry, so they easily fall because of heavy rains and storms. The rain trees are also affected with mealybugs (insects that feed on plant juice) and they act as vector for several plant diseases. The branches fall easily,” added an environmentalist.
“Many fully-grown rain trees are drying up in the city, which is a big concern for the ecosystem. Navi Mumbai is known for its greenery and since the past few years, green zone is depleting, which in a way is affecting the climatic condition as well. Trees play an important role in maintaining the weather, but rampant cutting has affected the environment drastically,” said Satish Mane, a resident.
The residents and environmentalists emphasise on survey to understand which tree requires stability and balance. “The authorities should insist on keeping certain areas free around the tree to help them grow and expand and should avoid doing any concretisation activity near roots,” continues Mane.
