Navi Mumbai [India], September 16: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has planned a major bamboo plantation drive around the Morbe Dam, with a proposal to plant around one lakh bamboo trees across suitable areas surrounding the reservoir. The initiative is aimed at increasing green cover around the dam while creating a natural green boundary along nearby settlements.
Morbe Dam, located in Khalapur taluka, is owned by the Navi Mumbai civic body and has large stretches of land that can potentially be used for plantation. According to the civic administration’s assessment, the availability of open space around the dam makes the location suitable for a large-scale plantation project. The proposal has been prepared after examining which varieties of trees would be appropriate for the area.
The decision comes in the backdrop of the Maharashtra government’s larger target of planting 300 crore trees across the state over the coming years. Municipal corporations, municipalities, zilla parishads and gram panchayats are expected to contribute to the overall plantation drive. NMMC is therefore looking for additional locations within and around Navi Mumbai where large numbers of trees can be planted.
NMMC Commissioner Dr Kailash Shinde has approved the proposal to take forward the bamboo plantation plan at Morbe Dam. A detailed proposal is expected to be placed before the civic body’s general body for consideration. The plantation programme is being planned as part of NMMC’s broader efforts to increase greenery and utilise available civic-owned land for environmental purposes.
A key feature of the plan is the creation of what can effectively become a natural bamboo boundary around parts of the dam area. NMMC has already constructed walls along the boundaries of nearby village settlements. Officials from the garden department have found that bamboo can be planted along these walls, allowing the plantation to function as a green buffer as well as a natural enclosure.
The proposed bamboo belt could also change the visual character of the Morbe Dam surroundings. Once mature, the plantation is expected to add greenery to the area and improve the landscape around the reservoir. The civic administration has also highlighted the potential aesthetic benefit of developing a continuous green zone around the dam.
The project is estimated to cost approximately ₹2.75 crore. NMMC has already made a provision of ₹12 crore in its current financial year budget for tree plantation, and the Morbe Dam bamboo project is proposed to be funded from this allocation.
The scale of the proposed plantation makes it one of the larger green initiatives planned around Morbe Dam since the reservoir was developed. A senior official from NMMC’s garden department told Loksatta that such a large-scale plantation proposal is being prepared in the area for the first time since the construction of the dam.
The Morbe reservoir is particularly important for Navi Mumbai because it forms part of the city’s water-supply infrastructure. Developing greenery around such a major civic asset could provide environmental and landscape benefits, although the implementation will have to account for the ecological conditions of the reservoir and surrounding land.
NMMC has also been examining other areas for plantation. The hill ranges on the eastern side of Navi Mumbai are considered suitable for increasing tree cover, while officials are also studying whether additional civic-owned locations can be brought under plantation programmes during the coming year.
The bamboo project is not an isolated plantation activity. NMMC has recently been pursuing other bamboo-related works as well. A separate civic tender was floated earlier this month for bamboo plantation in the Belapur node, indicating that the corporation is exploring bamboo as part of its urban greening efforts.
For Morbe Dam, however, the proposed figure of one lakh bamboo plants gives the project a much larger scale. If implemented as planned, the plantation could create a substantial green belt around sections of the reservoir and the nearby settlements.
The proposal will now move through the civic body’s formal process before implementation. The final execution will depend on the approval of the detailed proposal, selection of suitable plantation locations and subsequent work by the concerned departments.
For Navi Mumbai, the Morbe Dam initiative could eventually become an important example of using large civic-owned land parcels for organised green development. The immediate focus, however, remains on taking the proposal through the required civic approvals and beginning plantation work in suitable stretches around the reservoir.
