Mumbai, Oct. 28 -- A 2023 report by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay found a poor survival rate of saplings planted by MMRCL as part of compensatory afforestation in Aarey Colony. A three-member IIT-Bombay committee had assessed plantations across five designated sites and reported that saplings had low survival rates at all locations. Although MMRCL had pledged to plant 20,000 trees, under compensatory afforestation norms, it was required to plant 15,065 trees: six for the launching shaft, 471 for the ramp, 12,846 for the car depot, 1,533 for the shunting neck, and 210 for the pylon termination station. The plantations were carried out at three locations: 284 trees in a 5,000 sqm area of Aarey Colony in 2015; 7,806 trees in a 240,000 sqm area of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in 2018, and 6,975 trees in a 3,200 sqm area at Veer Sawarkar Udyan, Malad, in 2021. According to the report, saplings inside SGNP showed a survival rate between 40% and 70%, with many stunted growth. The team observed that several trees were planted on uneven, rocky terrain filled with construction debris and had an inadequate water supply. To compensate for the loss, the report recommended replanting 3,500 trees. Following this, on January 21, MMRCL wrote to SGNP authorities, requesting the additional plantation. "Since the beginning, we have been highlighting that the location chosen to plant the trees was not right, as more plants were being planted in the grasslands of the forest where deer go for grazing; these grasslands are equally important," said Stalin D, an environmental activist....