Let’s say no to feeding our green cover with concrete

Nature lovers said trees with concretised bases do not get enough air and water for their roots

As Cyclone Tauktae ripped through Mumbai wreaking havoc, trees became the biggest casualties. Mumbai saw hundreds of trees uprooted, wrenched out by the force of the wind, keel over and there were hundreds of reports about trees blocking roads.

This edit space had focused on a banyan tree that had broken at Peddar Road, with residents replanting it in a park. This is a valuable lesson in eco-consciousness rather than the merits or demerits of replanting broken trees.

Now, a report in this paper pointed out that locals at Lokhandwala are concerned about unnecessary concretisation near a lake on the Lokhandwala Backroad. They claim trees located near this concretised area, have perished. They blamed installation of paver blocks and concrete stairs in the vicinity, for the loss of trees.

Experts do point to increasing concretisation causing loss of trees. This is not just during Cyclone Tauktae but through the years. Just like increasing buildings have eaten up the space everywhere and left little chance for rainwater to escape, so has increasing concretisation contributed to the fragility of tree bases and the result is trees falling everywhere, especially during the rains. This may not be the sole reason, but it certainly may be a factor in the large-scale falls we witness.

In certain pockets, it is time workers took the locals into confidence, roped in environment experts and then went about concretising or installing some infrastructure that they wish to. It is always wise and in fact it should be made mandatory that a holistic look at how we can balance both, nature and new infra is part of any city work. In this way, there is an attempt at preserving the few trees the city has left and some needing upgradation, too.