India, March 7 -- In a first, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) took action against a road contractor for damaging roots of trees while excavating the road for concretisation work, thereby flouting the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

On Thursday, the road department issued a notice, which penalised the contractor working on Rajabhau Desai Marg in Prabhadevi with a fine of Rs.20,000. The notice read: "The digging was done within one metre radius of the tree, hence, damaging the roots to some extent, which may lead to serious damage in near future."

An official from the Tree Authority said, "Several warnings were issued to the contractors and the road department. However, this is the first time that action has ...