In Navi Mumbai, Parsik Hill and Shirvane forest saplings dead due to negligence, says greens

Navi Mumbai: Activists have claimed that about two years after 28,240 indigenous saplings were planted on Parsik Hill through an NGO in collaboration with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), only around 50% are surviving.

Similarly, a decade later, only around 10% of saplings survive on reserved forest land under Shirvane village that was planted under the Cidco natural garden scheme. The land was planted with 20,000 saplings in 2014-15. Activists have expressed concern over the saplings’ low survival rate.

Local activist Sudhir Dani alleged, “Around half of the saplings planted died of negligence. Drip irrigation pipelines on the roadsides are dry. Locals and trekkers have tied packaged water bottles with small holes in their caps to keep a few of the saplings irrigated.” One of the NGO representatives, Amruta Paradkar, said, “We have planted the saplings.” The Shirvane site is around 50 hectares and was planted with cashew, java plum, among other species as mentioned on the board. A group of trekkers from CBD-Belapur and Kharghar go on regular morning walks on this stretch.

One of the trekkers on that route, Suresh Thorat, said, “Hardly any trees are found in the area. The area atop the hill remains dry for around eight months after monsoon. The survival rate of saplings up to 3 feet in height is very low, but saplings with a greater height need proper care for a minimum period to survive.” However, Thorat added that the plantation site can be maintained, and that water from the main pipeline can be used for the same.