MMRCL starts felling trees in Aarey for Metro car shed

The felling of trees started from 5 am on Monday morning after Metro authorities deployed heavy police protection near the plot.

Sources in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said after the SC had allowed felling of trees, the civic body had issued requisite permission to execute the job and the drive is carried out by the MMRCL. Local residents, however, said banana, jackfruit, mango and coconut trees have also been felled as part of the drive.

“After the MMRCL requested permission for felling 177 trees, a survey of the plot was carried out, following which the Tree Authority issued permission. After the court’s order, the final permission for felling the trees was given to them. The BMC is the only nodal body for giving permission and we are not directly involved in the cutting drive, since the project belongs to MMRCL and the court has ordered them directly,” said a civic official on condition of anonymity.

As many as 120 trees were felled by Monday evening.

While BMC officials said most of the trees that have been cut are large shrubs and bushes, environment activists and members from the Aarey Conservation Group (ACG) said the number of trees affected is much higher than what the authorities were telling the court.

“After the MMRCL got permission to fell 177 trees instead of 84, which they had demanded earlier, we visited the spot and found there are many trees that have not been marked by the authorities. However, these unmarked trees were falling in the proposed alignment of the car shed and it was evident that they will also be cut down,” said Amrita Bhattacharjee, a member of ACG and one of the petitioners against the tree felling.

“This clearly shows how the administration had downplayed the actual number of trees that are going to be affected due to this car shed, while in reality the number of trees being felled is much more,” said Bhattacharjee.

Asha Bhoye, a Aarey resident from an indigenous community, who is also one of the petitioners, said the authorities should have given them a warning before starting the felling drive. “The actual number of trees being hacked is more than 400. There were at least 120 banana trees that were affected. We keep a detailed tree count of this place since our livelihood is dependent on them as we earn our living by selling their fruits,” said Bhoye.

“The administration didn’t give us any letter or notice before felling the trees and they started felling from early morning. This is really unfair and the authorities should have acted in a sensitive manner,” she said.