Citizens Rally To Halt Tree Felling Of 123 Trees For Pune Metro Line III station: Heated Hearing Yields Temporary Pause

In October 2024, the PMC Ghole Road Ward Office issued a tree-felling docket proposing the removal of 123 trees for the construction of the Sakalnagar to Civil Court metro station stretch of Metro Line-3, connecting Shivajinagar to Hinjewadi.

Citizens, including members of the @chalopmc Pune Samvad Citizens Forum, raised objections to this proposal. The Tree Office at Ghole Road scheduled a public hearing for this matter on 3 December. 

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝟑

Pune Metro Line-3 is the first urban Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) project awarded by the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) under the new Metro Policy 2017. The project was given to a consortium of TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited (TATA Group) and Siemens Project Ventures GMBH under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. A special purpose company (SPC), Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited (PITCMRL), was created to develop, build, finance, operate, and transfer the project over a 35-year concession period, including construction.

PITCMRL appointed a private consultant, B.G. Mane, a retired PMC Garden Department officer, to handle tree-felling and plantation activities for the metro project.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞

The hearing, scheduled at 12:00 PM, began amidst chaos at the Ghole Road Ward Office. Asst. Garden Superintendent Karade informed citizens that the hearing would take place in intervals, such as 12:10 PM, 12:30 PM, and so on. Recognizing this as a divide-and-rule tactic, Rekha Joshi, a complainant, objected, demanding a single, collective hearing for all citizens, as they had all raised objections to the same tree-felling proposal. After some confusion, Karade conceded and agreed to hold a unified hearing.

The public hearing was chaired by Tree Officer Balasaheb Dhawale Patil. Citizens questioned how B.G. Mane, a private consultant, could act as the applicant for a tree-felling proposal. In response, an officer representing PITCMRL, explained that the project was awarded on a PPP basis and that B.G. Mane, with over 40 years of experience in tree-related matters, was appointed as the consultant. He urged the Tree Officer to dismiss the objection.

Ravindra Sinha of the ASAP group presented a 2020 tree-felling application for the metro project filed by a PMRDA officer. Citizens argued that a private consultant, who is unaccountable after the project concludes, should not be the applicant. They insisted that the application should be filed by the landowner, as mandated by the Tree Act. 

PITCMRL countered that all necessary procedures had been followed, and multiple trees were saved before finalizing the proposal to fell 123 trees. All trees personally inspected by Experts. However, vigilant citizen Nandinidevi Pant Pratinidhi argued that while expert opinions may have been sought, citizens, as guardians of these trees, were not consulted. The Officer asked Nandinidevi, “Are you an expert for you to be invited?” unaware that Nandinidevi is a expert with extensive knowledge of species and their uses. 

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬

Ameet Singh, a noted economist, highlighted flaws in the metro station and road-widening plans, calling them unscientific and poorly engineered. He alleged that political interests were driving the widening of the 36-meter road (as per the 2017 Development Plan) to 45 meters, primarily to provide additional FSI to adjacent buildings. Singh emphasized that this would worsen traffic on Ganeshkhind Road rather than alleviate it.

Vijaya Suratkal, another vigilant citizen, pointed out that the PMC Road Department had filed a separate docket for road-widening-related tree felling just six months ago. She questioned why a holistic plan was not prepared, instead of applying for tree felling in phases. The officer explained that land acquisition and permissions were granted in phases, necessitating phased applications. He added that 6,500 trees had been planted by the metro project, with a good survival rate, and their efforts were appreciated by the PMC Commissioner. However, Singh presented evidence of failed tree transplantation efforts, showing stumps placed in clay that never survived.

Citizen Chaitanya Ket requested a detailed report on compensatory plantations and tree transplantations carried out for all previous permissions granted to the metro project. The Tree Officer acknowledged the request.

Rekha Joshi pointed out that applicants had failed to submit quarterly reports on compensatory plantations, as required by the Tree Act. Despite repeated reminders from the PMC, no further action was taken. When questioned, Karade admitted there was no policy to enforce compliance. Shocked by this admission, citizens reminded the officials that the Tree Act allows legal action against non-compliant applicants.

Meghana Bhandari another citizen present brought to the notice the major flaws in the Tree Docket published by PMC like same tree number listed multiple times.

Citizens stated that most of the trees that would be felled are age-old and large trees which could be saved with alternative plans. 

Thousands of the Pune’s fully grown trees have been felled staraighway for the Metro work till date without making a second thought if slight changes in Metro work could save them. The root cause of thia is when the initial survey of projects like Metro is done, Trees are not considered at all, later after the plan is made and during project ongoing when objections are raised by citizens by that time the plan is already sanctioned and there is no scope to make any changes leading to staraighway masscare of trees be it a heritage tree or the tree of any rare spaces.

The tree transplantation and compensatory plantation in lieu of previous Tree Felling permissions given to Metro is questionable as no reports about Trees Survival reports released by the Metro project proponent.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

Nandkumar Mandora, a former corporator and long-time tree conservationist, urged the Tree Officer to adhere to the Tree Act’s provisions, emphasizing that tree felling should be the last resort. He called for strict compliance with legal and environmental guidelines to protect Pune’s dwindling green cover.

Assistant Commissioner Balasaheb Dhawale Patil acknowledged that many citizen objections were valid. He assured attendees that the proposal would be reviewed with senior officer Ashok Ghorpade, who has a deep understanding of the Tree Act. Until then, the tree-felling proposal would be put on hold, with further communication, site visits, and a final hearing promised.

The hearing concluded with citizens leaving after a long day. While development projects are being pushed forward in the name of progress, citizens emphasized the need for adherence to procedures to prevent turning Pune into a concrete jungle. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.