Centre asks Maharashtra Forest Department to investigate the massacre of 100 trees in Powai

Mumbai: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has asked the Maharashtra Forest Department to investigate the cutting of over 100 full-grown trees at Powai, even as the felling was halted soon after residents and NatConnect Foundation raised an alarm.

Acting on an email from NatConnect Director B N Kumar, the Ministry directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to examine the complaint and act as per law.

The letter dated December 2 and signed by Ravinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner (Forestry), noted that the appeal was also addressed to the Chief Minister and copied to the MoEFCC Secretary.

The Ministry has sought an early action-taken report as well.

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will send a team on Thursday morning to inspect the site near Shimmering Heights in Chandivali and hear the concerns of residents and environmental groups.

The BMC Commissioner, in his capacity as chairperson of the Tree Authority, had earlier approved the cutting of 40 trees and the transplanting of 70 on the private plot in February 2024. But contract workers suddenly arrived last Thursday and began chopping, triggering panic among residents of the neighbouring Shimmering Heights Society. People immediately reached out to NatConnect, seeking urgent intervention.

NatConnect quickly launched a social media campaign, including an online petition that received over 1,500 signatures, and wrote to the Chief Minister and the BMC Commissioner. Following this outreach and the resulting media coverage, the cutting was halted.

Kumar, in his appeal, called for a complete review of Mumbai’s tree policy and an immediate stop to all felling and transplantation in the Powai–Chandivali belt. He said the area’s fragile ecology “cannot take another hit” and described the sudden loss of mature canopy as “heart-wrenching and ecologically reckless.”

The attempted chopping has added to worries about Powai’s shrinking green cover at a time when Mumbai’s air quality has repeatedly slipped into the “poor” category this winter.

“The tree loss would worsen pollution in an already stressed neighbourhood,” said Pravin Kumar Yadav, chairman of Shimmering Heights Cooperative Housing Society. He said residents were shocked to see 20-year-old trees being cut without any fresh public notice.

Explaining the ecological cost, Powai resident Manoj Samudra said a two-decade-old tree provides carbon storage, shade, cleaner air, groundwater recharge and wildlife habitat—services saplings cannot match for many years. “Numerical replacement ignores canopy volume, biomass and carbon stock lost instantly upon felling,” he said.

Pamela Cheema, chairperson of the BMC-appointed Advanced Locality Management committee, said she was “deeply shocked” that another green space was being targeted. “When will planners realise that trees in Mumbai are survival systems, not landscaping?” she asked.

Residents said they hoped the Centre’s direction and the BMC’s field inspection would lead to a fair review and better protection of Powai’s remaining trees.