It’s really up to the people to save city’s green cover

The baobab tree in Santacruz West

A group of Mumbaikars, led by Friends of Trees (FOT) organisation, filed a complaint at a Santacruz police station on Sunday. The complaint was about a baobab tree that was axed recently, in the middle of the night say locals to accommodate ongoing Metro work. The FOT stated that they wanted to find out where this axed tree had been dumped, who was behind this tree cutting and why it was done under the cover of night.

The outrage began after news about the tree being cut hit the media. It was already whirring on social media. The original plan was to hold a protest for a dead tree. People were invited to gather near the spot and wear white, protesting the killing of the tree. The protest though, was disallowed by the police. The next option was filing a complaint which has happened.

What is most heartening perhaps is the new consciousness, an awakening amongst people that they need to come together to protect our green spaces. Earlier, we had mumblings and grumblings for some. Then, there has been an absolute overload of information that may not all have been spot on, on social media. Yet, it did create an avalanche of awareness about green spaces and trees. There was a lot of information on their usefulness, the benefits of tree cover, the cooling effect, environmental upsides and why each tree is so precious, especially in a city where concrete seems to be king.

Then came the outrage over tree cutting, plantation drives, debates about transplantation and finally the leap from WhatsApp warriors, do definite action on the ground. The base has also broadened from a few individuals to more and more asking for accountability for loss of green space. The complaint means people are refusing to let tree axing be glossed over or dismissed.