08/06/2026
More than 70 residents and environmentalists gathered at the Botanical Survey of India BSI campus in Mundhwa on Sunday June 7 to oppose a PMC proposal to fell over 1000 trees for a 30 metre Development Plan road along the riverbank.
The PMC tree felling docket proposes felling 1044 trees and transplanting 444 others affecting a total of 1488 trees for the riverside DP road. The 44 acre BSI campus houses more than 400 plant species including several native to Maharashtra and serves as a critical habitat for birds insects and wildlife in the rapidly urbanising Mundhwa Keshavnagar Koregaon Park belt.
Environmentalists argued that compensatory plantation cannot replace decades old mature trees and that the ecological value of the site would be permanently lost. Activists alleged the Tree Officer failed to use powers under Section 19a of the Maharashtra Urban Areas Protection and Preservation of Trees Act 1975. An Expert Committee of PMC Tree Authority had itself recommended a flyover design to avoid fragmenting the property.
The BSI campus also carries a troubled land history. A controversial attempt to sell 40 acres to Amadea Enterprises LLP for an IT park in 2025 was cancelled. Criminal cases continue and the Maharashtra Revenue Authority upheld a Rs 21 crore stamp duty penalty on the firm in April 2026.
Citizens demanded an environmental impact assessment public disclosure of alternatives protection of heritage trees and clarity on land ownership before any tree felling is permitted.
