Kochi: It appears that Kochi Metro Rail Ltd has kept its promise on afforestation as part of the ongoing Kochi Metro construction though contractors failed to comply with contractual obligations. KMRL, in an RTI, has revealed that it planted 5500 tree saplings in Kochi and spent more than Rs 85 lakh on planting. As per the detailed project report, 447 trees needed to be cut for the project. However sources pointed out that more than 447 trees were cut for the project. As part of the afforestation, for the last three years under different projects, KMRL had planted more than 5,500 plants and planting was part of many of the projects undertaken by KMRL.
Tree planting in other projects were in progress, the RTI said. RTI was accessed by Dhanaraj Subhash Chandran, an RTI activist and IT professional in Kochi. KMRL had asked contractors to plant trees for every tree cut. Though the contractors planted close to 4000 saplings, most of them died because of bad maintenance. According to a spokesperson, KMRL, as a green initiative, planted trees across the city. “We joined hands with various agencies and colleges to plant trees, he said and added that they had asked the contractors to maintain the tree saplings.
