Bhandup West: BMC approves cutting of 184 trees for new water pumping station
The BMC Tree Authority has approved proposals to cut 253 trees and transplant another 204 trees across Mumbai for four infrastructure and institutional projects.
The biggest impact is in Bhandup West, where a new clear water pumping station is planned.
What’s happening in Bhandup?
- 🏗️ Project: New clear water pumping station
- 💧 Planned capacity: 2,000 million litres per day (MLD)
- 🌳 Trees proposed to be cut: 184
- 🌱 Trees proposed to be transplanted: 150
The remaining trees at the site are proposed to be retained.
Other projects affected
The approvals also cover:
- KEM Hospital, Parel: 28 trees to be cut and 22 transplanted.
- Central Railway, Matunga: 29 trees to be cut and 13 transplanted for the fifth and sixth railway lines project.
- BARC, Trombay: 12 trees to be cut and 19 transplanted.
What about compensatory plantation?
The report doesn't specify where the trees will be transplanted, whether compensatory plantation is planned, or how the survival of transplanted trees will be monitored.
The pumping station is an important water-supply infrastructure project, but losing so many trees in Bhandup raises questions about how the environmental impact will be managed.
What do Bhandup residents think? Is this an acceptable trade-off for better water infrastructure, or should the BMC provide more details about tree protection and compensatory plantation before work begins?
Source: Times of India report. The figures refer to proposed tree removal and transplantation under the approved proposals.
