Tree cutting begins at Mumbai’s Aarey forest, activists protest
Hours after the Bombay High Court’s verdict dismissing all petitions against the felling of over 2,500 trees for a Mumbai metro depot, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) late on Friday night started cutting trees in Aarey in the state capital.
Several activists and citizens protested outside the Metro car depot site in Aarey colony in Goregaon East. Some of them were reportedly later detained by the police. The activists also alleged that more than 200 trees have already been hacked.
Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani in a tweet requested Mumbaikars to reach the site and resist the move.
The BMC also uploaded on its website a letter permitting the felling of trees.
The High Court earlier on Friday dismissed a petition filed by a city-based NGO Vanashakti to declare Aarey a forest. A bench comprising Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and environment activists related to the Aarey Colony.
