Pune: Due to the ongoing metro work carried out in Pimpri-Chinchwad, there are a number of trees, which are planted on the dividers. The officials of MahaMetro have made a resolution of not axing these trees and instead to replant them in other areas depending on their condition.
A pilot project was carried out on Sunday at Sahayog Kendra, behind Vallabh Nagar ST stand, Pimpri, where ten plants were replanted using arboriculture technique. There are a total of 218 trees, which are more than 15 years old on the stretch from Pimpri to Harris Bridge where the MahaMetro will be constructed. Out of the 218 trees, 137 trees including khaya and peltophorum trees will be replanted on Alandi Road and the remaining 81 trees will be cut down. Bhanudas Mane, Metro Deputy General Manager, Horticulture Department, said, “The 81 trees, which are not being replanted are because those trees are either not suitable for re-plantation or there are utility services dug under some trees.”
Mane further added, “We have been planning on this work since four months. This is just a pilot project and we will see if this technique works or not. The tender for re-plantation is yet to be approved by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). It took Rs 80,000 to transplant 10 trees at Sahayog Kendra. Along with it, we are going to plant 3,000 saplings on Alandi Road after the actual work of re-plantation starts.”
The replantation work is done by an outsourcing agency Jagtap Horticulture Pvt Ltd. It takes them three to fours hours to remove the trees from its roots. The height of these ten trees was measured at around 40 feet and they were safely replanted at Sahayog Kendra. The uprooting work took place from 12 pm to 5 pm from Pimpri to Nashik Phata. Adesh Shere, General Manager of Jagtap Horticulture Pvt Ltd, said, “The technology and scientific methods have never been used by any of the Central or state governments in India. It is a three to four month series of activities.”
Shere further added, “Tree transplantation starts with canopy pruning in which the arboriculture procedure is done by cutting very fewer branches of the tree. Secondly, root pruning is done, which ensures the reduction of roots of the tree without giving any shock to it. Root pruning is done in three stages: cuts are made around the tree with specific intervals.”
“The third step is root ball making in which all new roots generated during 2nd operation are covered by root ball and prepared for transplantation. The fourth procedure is root ball lifting and transit in which high-level engineering calculations, high-end machinery and equipment are involved in making the safe and comfortable transit of the tree to the new location,” she added.
