No tree felling in Aarey till September 30, Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday told the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) that it shall not cut down trees in the Aarey Colony area for the Metro car depot in the city till September 30..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a plea filed by environmental activist Zoru Bhathena challenging the resolution of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to allow felling of over 2,600 trees for a Metro car depot in the Aarey Milk Colony, known as the green lung of the megacity..On Tuesday, the Court began its proceedings by organizing several petitions filed on the Aarey issue and removed non-related petitions from the list..When the Court decided to post the hearing on activist Zoru Bhathena’s plea to September 30, Senior Counsel Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for the petitioner, informed the Court that the Tree Authority of the Civic Body had issued a final permission letter to MMRCL for felling and transplanting of over 2,600 trees on September 13..Dwarkadas argued that the MMRCL cannot cut trees until September 28, since the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975 provides a recourse to file objections against the decision in 15 days..The petitioner further stated that the 15-day period gets over on September 28. In this light, he sought an assurance from MMRCL that it would not start felling trees till the next date of hearing..Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for MMRCL, replied that the authority was not in a hurry to cut the trees, but it cannot make an official statement in that regard..In view of this, the Chief Justice noted,.“It is understood that the MMRCL will not fell the trees until then.”.The petition had come up before the High Court after the Tree Authority of the Civic Body, on August 29, had passed a resolution for theremoval of around over 2,600 trees at Aarey, which included 2,185 trees proposed to be cut and 461 trees proposed to be transplanted for a Metro car shed for the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro line..Apart from the plea challenging the decision of Tree Authority, a few more petitions have been filed on the Aarey issue..One of these petitions filed by NGO Vanshakti sought a direction from the Court to declare Aarey a forest area. Senior Counsel Gayatri Singh appeared for the NGO..The Division Bench on Tuesday said that it will first examine the question of whether Aarey Colony area is a forest..Chief Justice Nandrajog noted,.“If we come to the conclusion that the Aarey has to be declared as forest, then all the other issues would not arise. Forest need not mean just trees and plants. We will also examine whether the decision taken by the tree authority was legal..While the government can take a decision on the basis of votes and voice of the people, the Court will decide on the facts and legal merit in the matter at hand,” Chief Justice Nandrajog remarked..The Court will continue hearing Vanshakti’s plea on Wednesday.