India, March 8 -- Nearly two decades ago, the residents of Sector 8 in Charkop, Kandivali, came together to transform their neighbourhood with lush greenery, planting hundreds of trees to enhance their surroundings. But on Friday morning, they woke up to a harsh reality-336 trees on Kaad Siddeshwar Road had been plastered with notices from the BMC's Tree Authority, declaring them marked for axing or transplantation to make way for a crucial connector road as part of the northern extension of the Mumbai Coastal Road project.

A community's green efforts under threat

"Back then, our area lacked proper infrastructure and roads," recalled Mili Shetty, an environmentalist and member of the Charkop Sector 8 Vikas Samiti, a local resident group...