Five thousand trees will be planted at Mahim Nature Park (MNP) located near Dharavi in Mumbai as part of “Vanamahotsav 2016-17”, on July 1, under which the Maharashtra Government is planning to plant two crore saplings all over the state.
In the program at MNP, the tree plantation drive will be inaugurated by Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
With the planting of 5000 saplings, the forest cover in Mumbai is expected to increase at least by 5 hectares. Besides, it will also help increase the flora and fauna and eventually increase the green cover in Mumbai, Avinash Kubal, Director, MNP told ADC.
MNP, developed by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is spread over 37 acres at Bandra-Sion link road and is on the opposite side of Dharavi slums. The park has magical woodland with thousands of trees, 300 varieties of plants with few herbs, a lake, over 100 varieties of migrating birds, insects, butterflies, reptiles and few mammals too. Laughing Dove, Black kite, Shikara, Great Egret, Eurasian Wryneck, Purple Sunbird, Little Green Bee Eater, Blue throat and Barn swallow birds are some of those migratory birds that are seen at MNP.
Nearly 1.50 lakh people visit MNP every year for educational purposes and around 1,500 children visit MNP per day for nature trails and bird watching. The park also runs programs on terrace gardening, beekeeping, vermin composting and other initiatives.
“In Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) garden department will distribute saplings free of cost to housing societies, schools and other institutes wanting to plant them as part of their contribution to environmental upgradation,” said Niranjan Shetty, Member of the BMC’s Tree Authority. The attempt is on to involve school children in the tree plantation drive throughout the year and give certificates and additional marks to the students actively participating in the tree plantation drive, Shetty stated further.
Shetty has also written to the Municipal Commissioner, Ajoy Mehta suggesting that while granting permission to trim/cut trees, to the housing societies and other organisations, the BMC should provide the information about approved contractors available in every ward, so that the citizens are not fleeced by the contractors by charging more money.
Elsewhere in the state as a part of “Vanmahotsav”, over 100 different varieties of saplings will be planted all over the state. The saplings will depend upon the soil condition and topography of the land so that they survive and help increase green cover. As far as possible the saplings will be of local varieties such as mango, banyan, Portia, jackfruit, neem, rain tree and gulmohar, which provide lot of shade depending on local climate and availability of water.
“Out of the total of 2 crore trees, the forest department will plant up to 1.50 lakh trees while the rest of the departments will plant the remaining 50 lakh trees. For this committees at district, taluka and panchayat levels have been formed. In the tree plantation drive, right from the collector to sarpanch will be participating. Nodal officers at city and district levels will oversee the entire operations,” said D.L.Thorat, Joint Secretary(forest).
In Maharashtra, out of 307 lakh hectares of total area, around 20 per cent (61.35 lakh hectares) is covered by forests, while as per the National Forest Act, 1988, 33 per cent area should have green cover.