Same almond tree axed illegally again for better hoarding display in Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai: A 25-year-old almond tree near Ganesh Tower in Vashi was once again pruned illegally, allegedly to provide a better display to a new advertising hoarding near this tree on the main Vashi-Koparkhairane road. This is the same almond tree which was recently chopped from the top, and a show-cause notice was issued to the advertising company by the Vashi ward office of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC)."It is sad to see the brazen illegal pruning of the almond tree once again during Ganpati festival. The newly put-up flex banners partly covered the tree. Someone took advantage of this to fully cut the branches so that the hoarding display became clear. A complaint was again sent to the NMMC," said RTI activist Anarjit Chauhan.Social activist Madhu Shankar said, "This particular almond tree was illegally pruned several times in the past two years since this new hoarding was installed behind the tree. Unless civic and police authorities take strict action against the offenders, I am afraid that the tree may be killed soon in favour of the hoarding."While a separate complaint was also sent to the gardens department of the NMMC, activists feel the authorities must also investigate how this new hoarding was allowed to come up. "There are barely a handful of green leaves remaining on this damaged almond tree. It looks like in the battle between the tree and a hoarding, the tree often loses. This is a sad situation of commerce winning over nature," said B N Kumar of NatConnect Foundation.While a civic official said they will look into this issue, activist Shankar added angrily, "We complained several times in the past two years to save this tree. The hoarding has come up on a plot gifted by Cidco to a group solely for social welfare purposes, and not for commercial gain. Hence, this hoarding must be pulled down to save the almond tree."