As many as 685 trees will have to be felled or replanted to implement the proposed metro rail project in Pune. The detailed project report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) says these trees come in the way of the Metro corridor and they will have to be either felled or replanted.

The discussion on the metro rail has once again gained momentum, with DMRC chief E Sreedharan making a presentation on the project at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday.

The report says the Environment Impact Assessment (EIS) of the Metro alignment has also been done. “As part of that, the environment status of the route along the Metro corridor has been assessed and all the pros and cons have been taken into consideration. The positive change that the Metro project can bring is to avoid traffic congestions, save time required for transportation, bring down air and noise pollution levels, lower number of road accidents, etc.”

However, environmentalists are skeptical about the transplantation of trees.

“Going by the track record of the PMC, the 685 trees, that the reports states, will either not be replanted or if done so, it won’t care for trees once planted. Almost 75 per cent of plants transplanted this way have not survived, because of the civic body’s carelessness,” one of them said.

S C N Jatar of Nagrik Chetana Manch also echoed this view. “Transplanting the trees is a good move. But, the PMC does not have the tenacity to groom them further.”

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