The Supreme Court on Monday prohibited cutting of any more trees in Mumbai's Aarey colony and directed the Maharashtra government to maintain status quo till October 21, the next date of hearing. The matter will then be examined by a bench dealing with forest matters -- whether it is forested area or eco-sensitive zone.
The Supreme Court in its order on Monday said that no more trees should be cut in the colony till that date to facilitate the construction of a car shed for Mumbai Metro. The apex court also recorded an undertaking by the Devendra Fadnavis government assuring the same.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan further ordered the police to release all activists, who had been detained for protesting the axing of trees.
Solicitor General Tushar assured the court that the Maharashtra government is not going to cut down any more trees further in the Aarey Colony.
The top court agreed to examine the plea after petitioner's counsel told the court that the areas fall under the unclassified forest.
Appearing for petitioners, Senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Gopal Shankaranarayanan told the court that the issue whether Aarey is a forest or not is pending with the Supreme Court. They also told the court that National Green Tribunal is hearing the issue whether the area is eco-sensitive zone or not.
The submission came on court's queries whether the area was forest or eco-sensitive zone.
The Supreme Court also sought report from Maharashtra government on the afforestation drive to compensate the tree cutting.
Meanwhile Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court over 20,000 trees were planted in last few years by the government. However, it failed to convince the top court, which asked the state to place a report with photographs mentioning how many trees have since survived.
Background
The Aarey issue has been flashpoint between environmentalists and residents on one side, and proponents of infrastructural development on the other side.
While several Bollywood stars have echoed concerns, actors Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar have come out in support of the government backing the metro project. Many celebrities however, have opposed the felling of trees, including singer Lata Mangeshkar, actors Shraddha Kapoor, John Abraham, Dia Mirza, Raveena Tandon, Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda, Farhan Akhtar and Dia Mirza.
The controversy intensified further after videos surfaced on social media showing the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) axing trees in Aarey at night, a day after the Bombay High Court dismissed petitions challenging the cutting of trees in the area. According to reports, the MMRCL axed about 1500 trees on Saturday, leading to protests in Mumbai.
The issue has become politicised as well, with Uddhav Thackeray, the chief of the BJP's coalition partner Shiv Sena, and his son, Aaditya Thackeray have thrown their weight behind the activists, who have been fighting for the last two years. Congress leaders have also slammed the BMC for axing the trees.
The two-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan was constituted after a group of law students wrote to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi seeking the top court's intervention in the matter and the cutting of trees to be suspended immediately.
Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon which has more than five lakh trees, together with Sanjay Gandhi National Park, is known as the green lungs of Mumbai.
The protests against cutting of trees also sparked Twitter campaigns and online petitions with the hashtags #ArreyChipko #SaveAarey.
(IANS inputs)