ABSTRACT
The first dakhma or tower of silence at the Doongerwadi in Mumbai was built in 1672. This and subsequent dakhma s are surrounded by fifty-five acres of forest in the heart of Mumbai city. However, the urban forest is degraded due to high levels of pollution, the invasion of exotic species, loss of invertebrate faunal species, erosion of topsoil, and unseasonal cyclonic weather.
Over the past ten years, in partnership with the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP), I have planted 15,280 tall native trees of seventy-four different indigenous species on the Doongerwadi lands in Mumbai, in a bid to improve the health of an urban forest under anthropogenic stress, increase biodiversity, decrease pest susceptibility, and create a carbon sink in the face of climate change and global warming. The project continues with remarkable success, though it is faced with a post-pandemic world that has thrown up newer challenges and altered century-old practices.
My quest to revive the forests of Doongerwadi in Mumbai in 2015 started as a scientific endeavour of a local ecologist, but over the next seven years has silently evolved into a deeply spiritual journey of connecting with the land, imbibing the inexplicable energy surrounding the dakhma s and finally surrendering to the higher faith.
