India, March 10 -- More than 100 Versova residents and activists gathered at the K West ward office on Monday to register their protest against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) plan to axe at least 150 trees at the Nana Nani Park to make way for the Versova-Dahiar Coastal Road exit. During a public hearing at the ward office under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, the residents proposed an alternative route, saying it would help greatly in saving the park's green cover.

While the BMC originally proposed that the coastal road's exit ramp would pass above the park, requiring the felling of 89 trees and transplantation of 47 trees, residents said shifting the alignment two kilometres...