06 October,2014 07:05 AM IST | | Ankoor Anvekar
25 trees fell and 225 others were damaged when thunderstorms lashed the satellite city last week; the civic body plans to undo the damage by planting 100 flowering trees in the affected areas
Just like in Mumbai, strong winds and heavy rains took the satellite city of Navi Mumbai by surprise last week. It left behind 25 fallen trees, and damaged nearly 225 trees. As a result, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to plant hundreds of trees to undo the rain's damage.
Most of the trees that were uprooted lay on the Thane-Belapur Road, between Airoli and Koparkhairane
On October 1, thunderstorms lashed Navi Mumbai, damaging 225 trees between Airoli and Koparkhairane, on the Thane-Belapur Road 25 of the trees on this stretch succumbed to the storm.
Civic officials said most of the uprooted trees were small in size; those that had wide-spreading branches also fell victim to the winds, damaging the cars parked underneath as they gave way.
In order to repair the damage caused to the trees, the NMMC is mulling planting over 100 flowering trees in the storm-affected areas. Work is currently on to clear the fallen trees and planting shall begin in the next two weeks.
Chandrakant Tayde, administrative officer of the Gardens department of NMMC, said, "As many of the trees were uprooted, the civic body wants to plant flowering trees on the affected stretches. We are planning to plant as many as 100 such trees to augment the beauty of the affected areas."
On Saturday, civic officials also embarked upon a tree census to take stock of the number of trees under NMMC's jurisdiction. Officials said the process would take another 8-9 months to be completed. The survey is conducted every five years under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. The civic body had last conducted the survey in the year 2006; the next survey of 2011 got delayed due to administrative reasons.
