India, March 22 -- Even as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to transplant over 7,500 trees to accommodate a car depot for the metro 9 corridor in Uttan, data accessed by Hindustan Times shows that the survival rate of trees transplanted owing to metro works is barely 33%. In comparison, the survival rate for in situ plantations - wherein saplings grown in nurseries for 7-10 years were planted along metro corridors - is nearly 90%, data shows.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), which constructed the 33.5-km underground metro 3 line connecting Colaba with Aarey Colony, axed 2,800 trees to accommodate metro lines and stations and another 2,141 trees to accommodate the car depot in Aarey Colony. Anoth...