TOI : BMC to appoint tree officers to meet targets : Oct 22,2007
BMC to appoint tree officers to meet targets
TIMES NEWS NETWORKMumbai: During the four months of monsoon this year, the tree cover on the city’s roads, open spaces and premises of municipal offices was to increase by 40,000. Civic officials have, however, ended up planting only 9,510 trees in these locations.
Following years of failing to meet its target for planting trees, the BMC is now planning to appoint tree officers in each of the 24 wards in the city.
These officials will be in charge of planting saplings and nurturing them. The appointment of these dedicated officials will also mean that genuine requests for permission required to trim trees will no longer take months. Complaints about illegal felling and cutting of trees will also be attended to instantly.
Before the onset of the monsoon this year, the municipal corporation had announced that as part of its annual tree plantation drive, it will plant 1 lakh trees all over the city during the four months of monsoon.
Of this, the civic body had planned to distribute 65,000 saplings to housing societies, schools and other organisations at Re 1 each.
It was to plant 9,615 trees along roads and BMC premises as well as another 30,000 in open spaces available with various civic departments such as gardens, playgrounds, recreational grounds, dispensaries, cemeteries and school premises. However, it has failed to meet any of these targets.
Currently each of the 24 civic wards have a horticultural assistant who has to maintain the gardens and parks in the wards, in addition to monitoring the felling of trees in their area.
According to garden superintendant V H Dande, horticultural assistants alone cannot handle the entire workload, which results in delay in attending to any complaints. “We have already finished with the interviews for the new posts. The selected candidates would be issued appointment letters within a month,’’ said Dande.
The tree officers would also be responsible for ensuring that agencies, that promise to take up tree plantation in lieu of chopping them for projects such as road-widening , live up to their word.
toireporter@timesgroup.com
Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Oct 22, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:5