Dinesh Kamath's news 'Dead trees disturb environmentalists and activists' that was published in Newsband

Dead trees disturb environmentalists and activists

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Environmentalists as well as environment activists are not happy about the way the city authorities are dealing with the cases of trees dying prematurely or being pulled down by careless people.

This past rain in the city played havoc on many trees, snapping branches and knocking some over entirely. Some of the fallen trees are still lying at some places and the authorities show no inclination to clean up the mess. There are at some places old trees which are nearing the end of their lives.

An expert on environment had this to say: “Both standing and fallen dead trees are animal habitat and part of basic life cycles, including the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorous cycle. Whatever dies, decomposes, and becomes an essential nutrient for the next generation of plants and animals. I think we need to start looking at nature through a different lens. Dead trees are not an eyesore; they are animal habitat. For example, fallen trees can be great habitat for certain rare birds. Standing dead trees provide excellent homes for common birds. Maybe if we had a few more dead trees around we would not have these birds trying to live in our homes.”

But there was an opposing view that came from other expert on environment. He said, “Dead trees can be a hazard. I would certainly not advise keeping up dead trees or dangerous limbs where they could do damage to life or property. The authorities should prevent these hazards so people are less likely to be injured.  However, we do not cut down dead trees from within our conservation properties. There is simply no point. That tree will be a bird house for several years and then decompose and recycle its nutrients into the ground. The worst thing to do would be to remove that tree from its environment and remove its nutrients from the life cycle.”

He further added, “The dead trees should be removed because they are fire hazards. Removing trees or thinning areas for this reason may be appropriate depending on the area’s size and potential risk to other people. We should do everything we can to prevent a fire.”

The city activists had gone to the extent of handing a formal complaint about the fallen trees to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) but the authorities seem to be just not in a mood to do anything about it. The activists also issued formal notices to certain locals and developers about these dead trees but in vain.

Some activists fear that the trees are being poisoned to create an open space for commercial purposes. They cited cases in the past where trees were poisoned to death by some builders to obtain a free open space for the purpose of constructing buildings. The activists did bring this fact to the notice of the authorities and they also questioned the builders about it but no action was taken.

An activist complained that some trees die because of underground saline water and not necessarily by injecting of poisonous chemicals. He also came up with legal points to prove that it is an offense to kill trees in an unnatural manner.