Hours after the Bombay High Court cancelled four petitions challenging the cutting of trees at Mumbai’s Aarey Colony for a metro car shed, the trees have started to be cut in the green belt this evening.
Activists have gathered at Aarey Colony after a video showing a tree being cut there was widely circulated on social media. The activists claim the trees are being cut illegally.
Rules say once a tree committee approves cutting, the order should be uploaded on a government website. Trees can be cut 15 days after posting the permission on the website, sources say.
After the video surfaced, Congress leader Jignesh Mevani tweeted an appeal to the people of Mumbai to resist the “illegal” action.
“Urgent request to Mumbaikars: Authorities have already started cutting trees in Aarey after the order passed by the BHC today. Citizens are reaching Aarey forest to stop this. I request Mumbaikars to reach and resist this move right now,” he tweeted.
Actor Dia Mirza also tweeted over the move.
For the last two years, environmentalists have been protesting the decision of constructing a car shed for Mumbai Metro at Aarey Colony, which has more than five lakh trees.
The activists had approached the Bombay High Court to stop the government’s car shed plan. The court, however, refused to intervene, saying the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.
“The greens (environmentalists) fail in the instant petition because they have lost touch with the procedure to be followed as per law. The clock cannot be put back. We do not make any comments thereon as the petitioner has to now swim or sink before the Supreme Court… The issue is pending before the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal. Hence, we are dismissing the petition on the principle of commonality and not on merits,” a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre said.
The tree cutting has become a huge issue in Mumbai, weeks before Maharashtra goes to polls.
While actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar have supported the government’s plan, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has rendered his support to the green activists.
