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SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, MUMBAI

NOVEMBER 09, 2014

BUGS IN THE
SYSTEM

A day in the life of

A DIVORCE LAWYER

SOMETIMES
A DIVORCE
IS A HAPPY
ENDING

Clumps of white insects

are sucking the sap from Mumbais
once-lush rain trees, killing them
by the dozen. Experts say the
true culprits are more worrying
concretisation and climate change

Anubhuti Matta

riddhi.doshi@hindustantimes.com

heres a silent plague felling

rain trees across the city.
Youve probably seen at least
one or two casualties in your
neighbourhood giant beauties with their branches stretching to the sky, dry and leafless,
the bark covered in clumps of
white parasites.
Those parasites are mealybugs. Usually found on fruit-bearing
trees, they are known to attack the weak,
multiplying rapidly and sucking the sap
till the once-lush canopy of the host is
completely dry.
Over the past two-and-a-half years,
the mealybugs have attacked 500 of the
citys 5,000 rain trees, killing 238, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation.
Experts say that figure could be five
times that.
There are long stretches of road in
areas across the city where clumps of 10
to 15 trees stand shrivelled and dead,
says D Stalin of Vanashakti, an NGO that
is currently conducting a study of the
mealybug infestation in rain trees in association with the botany department of
Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College.
The odd thing is, mealybugs do not
typically attack rain trees. So why has
this become such a chronic problem in
Mumbai?
Botanists and horticulturists attribute
it to a combination of factors including concretisation, changing climate and
higher temperatures.
There is just one previous instance
of mealybug infestation in rain trees in
the city, in the mid-1990s. It wasnt severe
and the rains that year washed out the
bugs, says horticulturist VK Ogale,
former head of the Molecular Biology
and Agriculture Division at the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre. This time its
quite serious. Unusually high temperatures after the rainy season revived the
bugs. Whats worse, the bugs are preying
on a rain tree population whose immunity has already been weakened, and the
bugs are thriving.
The trees immunity has been reduced
over five to seven years by the concretisation of the areas around them, particularly their drip areas the space directly
beneath the canopy.
Normally, water drips to the ground
from the canopy and is taken in as food
and nutrition by the trees roots. With
the soil under these large tree replaced
by layers of cement, tar, or paver blocks,
the roots are not getting enough water
and air. This hinders photosynthesis and
weakens the tree, says Ogale.
It was concerned residents and environmentalists that first raised the alarm
about the shrivelling of their once-lush
rain trees.
In 2010, the first instances were reported in Kandivli. We then though it was
a mild infestation, said an official from
the BMC gardens department, speaking
on condition of anonymity. By September
2013, when a healthy monsoon failed to
wash away the bugs and many trees were
found shrivelled and dead in the city,
Vanashakti tied up with Jhunjhunwala
college to study the issue and try to find a
way to save the trees.
We geotagged and studied 1,700 rain
trees across the city and found that rain
trees in gardens and areas with enough
soil were unaffected by the mealybugs
because they were healthy and able to
fight the infestation, says Stalin.
Think of it like the recent cases of

Q&A
Repeatedly
told roads dept
to keep roots
concrete-free
Vijay Hire, superintendent of
gardens, Brihamnumbai Municipal
Corporation

Borivli

MUMBAI

THE PROBLEM

MG Road
Goregoan

Over the past two-and-a-half years, mealybug parasites have

attacked hundreds of the citys rain trees, multiplying rapidly and
sucking the sap till the once-lush canopy of the host is completely dry.

SV Road
Khar

A total of 500 of the citys 5,000 rain trees have been infested, and
238 killed, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Experts, however, say that figure could be five times that.

Azad Nagar
Andheri

Mealybugs do not typically attack rain trees. Botanists and horticulturists attribute the current rash of killings to a combination of factors,
including concretisation, changing climate and higher temperatures.

Sion
Fort

BKC

Matunga
Chembur
Central
Hindu Colony
Dadar

There is just one previous instance on record of mealybug infestation in rain trees in Mumbai. That was in the mid-1990s. It wasnt
severe and the rains that year washed out the bugs.
This time, unusually high temperatures after the rainy season
revived the bugs. Whats worse, the bugs are preying on a rain tree
population whose immunity has already been weakened, and the
bugs are thriving.
As a result, long stretches on road in areas across the city (see
map) have as many as 15 and 20 trees each that stand dried out and
completely leafless.

Churchgate

How is the BMC planning to tackle the

mealybug menace?
From pruning the infected branches of trees, so that the infestation
doesnt spread, to spraying pesticides, we are doing our best to stop
the infestation.

How do you respond to the fact that the

main problem is the choking of the roots
due to concretisation?
The Gardens Department
has repeatedly told the Road
Department to take care that the
roots of the trees are not damaged
and to leave sufficient space around
them. Its up to them to sort out the
concretisation issue.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

Aside from being an essential aesthetic element of the

FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES

It is not just the surviving rain trees
but also trees of other species in the city
that are under threat of being similarly
ruined, says Usha Mukandan, head of the
department of botany at Ramniranjan
Jhunjhunwala College. The good thing is
that the damage caused, though grave, is
reversible in some cases, although I fear
that we have very little time.
One way to reverse the damage is to
strengthen the trees immunity by de-concretising a radius of 6 ft around the trunk,
add layers of soil to it and water the area
regularly until the monsoon.
Meanwhile, experts such as Ogale say
ladybug beetles can be used as an antidote, since they eat mealybugs. This
is a slightly more expensive proposi IT professional Kshitij Ashtekar, 30, holds up
the free app he created, called Rain Tree, to track
the mealybug infestation. He and his friends
gathered data via the app and submitted it to the
HT PHOTOS: SATISH
BMC but never heard back.

BATE, KALPAK PATHAK & VIDYA SUBRAMANIAN

SOLUTIONS

One way to reverse the

dengue, adds Ogale of the BARC. Not
everyone living in an area with denguecarrying mosquitoes will suffer from the
disease. It is the ones with weak immunity that will. Its the same with the rain
trees and mealybugs, Ogale says.
In some cases, the mealybugs are
also feasting on old trees that are weak
because they are at the end of their life
cycle, adds Avinash Kubal, an expert
in forestry and deputy director of the
Maharashtra Nature Park.
However, the concretisation is quickening their death and allowing mealybugs
to take root in the weakened, aged trees,
Kubal adds.

By comparison, to cool a similar

area by 4 degrees Celsius to 5
degrees Celsius, as the rain tree
does, would take five 1-tonne airconditioners 20 hours.

Mumbai tree line, the rain tree helps keep the area beneath
and around it cool and the air purer, absorbing large
amounts of carbon dioxide through thick canopies that
extend across more than 60 ft per tree.

damage caused by mealybugs to rain trees is to

strengthen the trees
immunity by de-concretising a radius of 6 ft around
the trunk of each tree,
then adding layers of soil
to it and watering the
area until the monsoon.

IN A
NUTSHELL
Normally, water
drips to the
ground from the
rain tree canopy
and is taken in as
food and nutrition
by the roots. With
the soil under the
trees replaced by
cement or paver
blocks, the roots
do not get enough
water. This hinders photosynthesis and weakens
the tree. Think of
it like the recent
cases of dengue.
Not everyone in
the same area will
suffer from the
disease. The ones
with weak immunity will, says VK
Ogale, horticulturist and former
head of Molecular
Biology and
Agriculture Dept
at the BARC

This will
allow the
roots to

Meanwhile,
ladybug
beetles can be

spread out and

gain the nutrients they
need,
strengthening
the entire
large tree.

used as an
antidote, since
they eat
mealybugs.

For now, the

BMC is spraying
an organic pesticide from a
large pest control management company.
The spray has
been used on 15
trees in Khar.

tion, since the beetles must be procured

from the National Bureau of Agricultural
Insect Resources in Bangalore at a cost of
Rs 2 each, and 100 to 200 of the bugs are
required per tree.
For now, Vanashakti has procured an
organic pesticide which the municipal
corporation has sprayed on 15 infested
rain trees in Khar to test its effectiveness.
We are hoping that this spray will slow
down or stall the mealybugs, says Stalin.
But it will not solve the problem of how
the growing concrete cover is weakening
the trees.

A PEOPLES MOVEMENT
Meanwhile, residents have launched
their own initiatives to try and save their
rain trees. Rishi Aggarwal, a fellow at
urban planning thinktank Observer
Research Foundation and a resident of
Anushakti Nagar in Chembur, launched a
peoples initiative titled Mumbai Trees on
Facebook. It was on this platform, in fact,
that the problem was highlighted in May
2011, when people began to post about the
sudden disappearing green canopies outside their windows.
In December 2013, IT professional
Kshitij Ashtekar, 30, a resident of
Goregoan, designed a free app called Rain
Tree to help people report rain tree causalities across the city. The app enabled
everyone to see the exact location of all
the reported trees and share details on the

WE ARE HOPING
THAT THIS SPRAY
WILL SLOW DOWN OR
STALL THE MEALYBUGS.
BUT IT WILL NOT SOLVE
THE PROBLEM OF HOW
THE GROWING CONCRETE
COVER IS WEAKENING
THE TREES.
D STALIN of NGO Vanashakti

MUMBAI LOCAL

Rain trees on Veera Desai Road in Andheri

(West) stand dry and shrivelled as a result of
the infestation by mealybugs (inset).
Residents here have given up on trying to save
the trees and are planting fresh saplings of
other species, hoping the bugs will stay away.

anubhuti.matta@hindustantimes.com

he colours pink and green dominate 42-year-old divorce lawyer

Vandana Shahs office, where she
sits giving finishing touches to her
book while pop music plays loudly
in the background.
A little rang gives me a break from
the monotony of black and white, the
only colours allowed in court. Plus, it
keeps me happy. I need to be happy to
make two people in trouble see the light
again, Shah says, laughing.
She has been running an independent
practice as a divorce lawyer since 2012.
For 12 years before that, Shah, a graduate
in psychology and a former advertising
and marketing professional, offered free
counselling and legal aid while pursuing
her LLB at Government Law College.
Her journey towards divorce law
began in 2010, when her own divorce
came through.
I decided I wanted to change the
system, she says. The system treated
me as case number rather than a human
being. So I wanted to become a divorce
lawyer who always treated her clients
with compassion and respect.
The daughter of an Air Force officer
and a homemaker, Shah says she was
raised to be brave and independent.
Marriages are made in heaven, but
divorces happen on earth. If you are not
happy, move on. I always tell my clients
to try and reconcile; failing that, to part
ways, but always in an amicable manner.
Shah starts her day between 7 am and
8.30 am, depending on the schedule of
her dance class, a hobby she engages in
to de-stress.
After reading eight newspapers in the
nine-room family bungalow in Bandra
(West) where she lives with her extended
family of cousins and their children,
and spending some time preparing for
her case of the day, she sits down to a
breakfast of poha or upma, at 9.45 am.
Then she drives to the family court at
Bandra-Kurla Complex.
While I drive, I listen to loud music.
This is to brace myself for the day
ahead, which is going to be full of weeping, teary-eyed, sad faces, she says.
At court, she counsels, files petitions
and fights cases till 1.30 pm, after which
she either drives home for a lunch of
theplas, paneer, aaloo sabzi and dal, or
has it delivered to her office by her help.
Depending on the number of cases,
Shah returns to court by 3 pm or 5 pm.
Once a week, she uses this time to visit
the Bombay high court for cases being
heard there. Most days, Shah is home by
6 pm, and spends the evening researching ongoing cases, or writing.
Apart from a monthly column on life
in a magazine called Black and White,
Shah has translated a book on Jainism
and is currently working on a memoir.
Writing helps me discover the inner
me, what I need to change and what I
need to tell people about to help them
overcome their problems, she says.
She then prepares to meet clients,
till 7.30 pm. Some clients drop by even
later. In cases involving domestic violence, for instance, you could need your
lawyer at any time, Shah says.
An hours brisk walking refreshes her
before dinner, usually a meal of soup and
salad at 9 pm. After this, its time for some
reading or engaging conversations with
her family, till she calls it a day at 1 am.
Off on Sundays and every other
Saturday, Shah uses her free time to
write or attend social and cultural
events. She also travels extensively with
family and friends.
Its all about your attitude, Shah says.
You have to treat divorce as part of
your life. Most people make the mistake
of making their whole life about the
divorce instead. When my own divorce
was announced, I hosted a divorce
party, complete with a cleansing bonfire. Some divorces are happy endings.
(This weekly feature explores the
lives of those unseen Mumbaiites
essential to your day)

Riddhi Doshi

11

extent of the damage.

The idea was to gauge the extent of
the problem, says Ashtekar. It was used
to plot 650 affected trees in Goregoan and
Malad. I presented the app and the collected data to BMC authorities in January
2013 but never heard back. Of the 650 we
reported, 500 are now dead.
Around the same time, NGO
Vanashakti approached the National
Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources
(NBAIR) for help. It was NBAIR that
first suggested the ladybug beetles, says
Stalin. We bought a total of 1,000 beetles,
costing Rs 2 each, from our own NGO
funds, and sprayed them on to 10 trees.
Ashtekar also procured a few beetles
and tried to spread them on trees himself.
I sought permission from flat owners to
go to their balconies and spread the bugs.
I also climbed bridges to do the same, he
says. But I was fighting a losing battle.
Only the BMC has the infrastructure and
resources necessary for the task.
Meanwhile, near the Andheri Sports
Complex, a citizens group repeatedly
petitioned the BMC to save their infested
trees. We finally gave up when they told
us the trees were too close to the road
and spraying ladybug beetles could cause
problems to people, says Vijay Kulkarni,
62, a retired engineer. By May this year,
19 trees were dead. We have managed to
get 10 saplings of native trees from the
BMC. We are waiting for more.

SATISH BATE/HT

INITIALLY, IT WAS HARD BEING INVOLVED IN

BITTERNESS AND DISCORD ALL DAY, BUT I HAVE
LEARNT TO DETACH MYSELF FROM THE WHIRLPOOL
OF EMOTIONS. THATS THE ONLY WAY TO DO THE
JOB AND BE A GOOD LAWYER TO MY CLIENT.
VANDANA SHAH, 42

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