While Mumbai gasps for breath as its air quality continues to plummet, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has issued a notice calling for the removal of 3,267 trees from a plot reserved for a garden at Ramdev Park, the sole green patch in Mira Road East, so that an Olympic-size swimming pool can be built there.

Just last year, the MBMC organised a plantation drive in the park, with over 10,000 trees being planted in the presence of the MBMC chief, deputy commissioner and mayor. The civic body even advertised this initiative in newspapers. Krishna Gupta, a social activist, has complained to the MBMC chief, urging them not to remove these trees as they represent the last green area in Ramdev Park. The MBMC plans to remove 607 big trees—which are three metres tall from ground level and have roots that are 10 cm deep—and 2,660 small trees. The notice was issued by Yogesh Gunijan, an assistant municipal commissioner and forest officer of the MBMC.