India, Dec. 20 -- Only 35% of trees transplanted for one of Mumbai's flagship infrastructure projects, Metro Line 3, or the Aqua Line, have survived. And only half the number of saplings planted as compensatory afforestation for tree cover lost to the metro corridor and its car depot, have survived.

These findings prompted the Supreme Court to come down hard on the Maharashtra government for its "poor" track record in its afforestation efforts linked to major infrastructure projects. The apex court made this observation on October 27. It is monitoring all tree-related activity in the Aarey forest, after taking suo motu cognisance in 2019 following widespread protests over large-scale tree cutting in the area.

Construction of the 33.5-km...