The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will begin a citywide tree census next week after an eight-year gap. The exercise will take around 1.5 years, according to a civic release issued on Wednesday.

The last census was carried out in 2018, when around 33.7 lakh trees were counted, including those in Aarey Colony in the western suburbs, the release said.

A daylong training workshop on scientific tree pruning and enumeration was held at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo, also known as Byculla zoo, it said.

Quoting Garden Superintendent Jitendra Pardeshi, the release said the upcoming tree census will be carried out with the help of experts and modern technology.

Tree census in Mumbai is usually carried out every five years, but the latest exercise got delayed due to the COVID pandemic, said officials.

Meanwhile, the civic body has prepared for pre-monsoon work, including pruning of potentially hazardous trees and branches across the city. Over 45,000 trees have been identified for trimming and pruning ahead of the monsoon, BMC officials said.

The BMC carries out pruning of dangerous tree branches every year before the monsoon, aiming to maintain safety while using modern techniques, the release said.