India, July 19 -- Are Mumbai's trees stronger than those in Navi Mumbai? If that seems like an absurd question, let the experts weigh in.

In Mumbai, the BMC has consistently cited a stormy monsoon as the primary reason for the city's trees toppling with alarming regularity. It has firmly refused to admit that pouring concrete around their bases during the city-wide road concretisation drive, now in its third year, has built concrete coffins around their roots, depriving them of nourishment and weakening even the sturdiest species.

Then, on Friday, chief engineer (roads and traffic) Mantayya Swami said something that took tree experts and citizens by surprise. He told HT, "Experts have told us that even if the base of a fully grown tree ...