3 min readPuneApr 16, 2026 11:27 AM IST
A group of four citizens studying the urban ecology of Pune has alerted the municipal commissioner that more than 1,000 of 1,713 trees to be transplanted for the Riverfront Development (RFD) project have ‘gone missing’. The group alleged that at the sites where most of these trees were meant to be transplanted, there are newly-planted trees of the same species.
The group comprises Prajakta Mahajan, Prashant Shevgaonkar, Rahul Karambelkar, and Sandhya Gajendragadkar. Earlier this month, they began a study to document the trees that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had marked for transplantation for the RFD. The first stretch of the RFD spans 3.7 km, between Sangamwadi and Bund Garden, and this is where the group also focused its efforts.
On this stretch, the number of trees impacted by the RFD work was 2,304. According to the RTI response from the PMC, 591 trees were retained, and 1,713 trees were transplanted. There was no information on the number of trees removed.
“Based on their location, we marked the destination areas or the target sites of the transplanted trees into six clusters. In three clusters in Ranjeet Nagar in Sangamwadi, the number of trees that were expected to be transplanted were 271, 277, and 136. In three other clusters in Ranjeet Nagar, the expected number of transplanted trees were 37, 136 and 126,” says the study, available with The Indian Express.
“In Cluster 2, which should have had 277 transplanted trees, Cluster 4, which should have had 136 trees, and Cluster 5, which should have had 755 trees, we did not find any transplanted tree. All the trees were newly planted. Most of the trees matched the species and the location. However, they were not transplanted and it is unclear where the original trees went,” the study adds.
The group reached out to the PMC to red flag “Lack of monitoring and documentation of transplanted trees, and a potential loss of mature ecological assets”. The four are requesting a detailed tree census (before and after projects); transparency in tree transplantation data; long-term monitoring of transplanted trees; and preference for in-situ conservation over transplantation. The Indian Express tried to contact the PMC Commissioner but did not receive a response as yet.
It is mostly in the case of Karanj, Waval, and rain trees that there are newly planted trees where the old trees should be standing. The study has also highlighted that most of the newly-planted trees are stable.
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“Even though we could not locate 126 trees (in Cluster 6), the few trees (less than 50) we saw were indeed transplanted and most of them are stable. The majority of the transplanted trees are Vilayati Chinch, which is highly adaptable, easy to grow and easy to transplant. However, it is not native. A few of the transplanted trees here are Karanj. Karanj is a classic riparian tree and grows very well near water bodies. The destination site is near the river and is suitable for Karanj trees,” the study adds.
“We are quite sure that the PMC Commissioner is going to investigate. I am very sure that the commissioner is committed to conservation and protection of trees,” says Mahajan.
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