Mumbaikars strive to make trees nail-free

Every Sunday sees a bunch of people, including students surround a tree. And it has nothing to do with any project or curriculum. This group goes around Mumbai to remove posters and banners that have been nailed on trees. The volunteers include people from different walks of life, who sacrifice their holiday to save trees. They first do a recce of the area to identify trees that have been affected the most, which is then posted on social media. Spearheaded by Tushar Warang, the social worker who was inspired to follow in the steps of Madhav Patil, who was the first to initiate this drive in Pune. “We started this activity in Mumbai in the first week of April. So far we have covered areas like Dadar, Mahim, Goregaon, Mahalaxmi, Virar, Thane, Kalyan, Dombivali among others. We also get calls from people who want us to come to their area and make their trees nail-free,” he says.
‘Nails reduces the lifespan of trees’
Tree lovers may come from different professions, but all of them are united in their empathy for trees. Says businessman Jay Shringarpure, who takes the lead in various social initiatives, “Trees have life too! We feel pain if even a small nail pierces us, so imagine what trees go through when big nails are nailed into them. While the authorities may remove banners from the tree, the nails get left behind. It is left to us to pull them out as they reduce the lifespan of the trees.”
Botanist Dr Latoo adds, “It is beyond our capacity to judge whether trees feel pain or not. If the nails pierced into them are superficial it doesn’t damage them much, but if lots of big nails are hammered into them, it can get problematic. The central system of the tree, with its water and food flow system, gets ruptured, this will then harm the growth — it will not only wilt, the leaves will fall and the tree won’t be able to manufacture food for itself.”
‘Protecting existing trees is a huge responsibility’
The enthusiastic bunch of students in the group feel a sense of responsibility in wanting to protect nature and environment. Says Anjul Mulani, a student of social work at Nirmala Niketan, “Planting and growing new trees is great, but safeguarding the existing trees is also a big responsibility. Whether they are public or in personal space, it is our duty to make them nail-free and contribute as much as we can to protect them. It’s a personal choice, but our love for the cause brings us together.”
Says her fellow collegian Vidhi Gholapkar who studies MSW (Masters in Social Work), “I’ve always felt close to nature from childhood. I would plant trees and talk to them, too. Sensitising people towards trees needs to be done at that young age. We are never bothered about things affecting trees, but small things like nails are really a matter of concern that needs to be addressed.”

Steps taken to create awareness
The group undertakes remedial measures by removing the banners and nails, however that doesn’t stop people from putting up banners again. Says Ninad T, a teacher from Andheri, “As a Science teacher I understand how trees breathe, get their nutrition and help us as a society, but we need to spread the word. They should be made to realise that nailing trees is not right and how it harms the environment.”
Jay informs that they approached the Mayor of Mumbai, Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, who was extremely supportive. “The first person who we met regarding the issue was the Mayor. He has promised that he will look into the matter. He is also planning to take action against it as it is a crime. We hope that in the future there is a law that prosecutes those who hammer nails into trees,” he says.
Spreading the cause to other cities
Jay says that people from other cities are enquiring about their initiative. “While we cannot stop people from doing what they do to trees, we plan to remove them each time,” he says, adding, “We want to cover entire Mumbai and then we want to spread the idea to other cities and villages to make all trees in India pain-free. The awareness has spread and people have started contacting us and want to contribute too.”