Aarey Colony closed off as MMRCL prunes trees for Metro-3

Officials said that the trees on these roads needed to be trimmed to allow the transportation of a prototype train which is on its way from Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, and which will be used for the Metro-3 trial runs

Mumbai: Access roads to Aarey Colony and its adjoining forest area were closed off amid heavy police bandobast on Monday to allow the pruning and trimming of trees, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) officials said.

Mumbai, India - July 25, 2022: Heavy police bandobast as Aarey Colony Road closed for commuters temporarily for 24 hours amid tree cutting inside Aarey Colony for Metro-3 car shed underway at Goregaon, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Officials said that the trees on these roads needed to be trimmed to allow the transportation of a prototype train which is on its way from Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, and which will be used for the Metro-3 trial runs. The prototype which is expected to reach Mumbai soon will be stored at a temporary parking facility at Marol-Maroshi, near the Metro-3 ramp.

However, environmentalists and other members of the Save Aarey campaign expressed staunch opposition to this development and alleged that it was in violation of a 2019 Supreme Court order that barred tree cutting inside Aarey.

“Branches with girth of between one to two feet have been cut today. It is not just twigs or leaves. No permissions were shown to us and there was no prior public notice either. This goes against the SC order of 2019 but also against the Maharashtra Tree Act,” said Amrita Bhattacharjee, a petitioner in the Aarey tree felling case before the apex court.

MMRCL officials denied the charge and said that trees were not cut on Monday.

“We have not cut a single tree in Aarey today. Only branches of existing trees have been trimmed, with permissions from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the dairy department. The traffic was diverted because several trucks and cranes were deployed in Aarey. It is not safe to let traffic pass freely when workers are doing the trimming. Traffic was diverted to avoid any major traffic jams inside Aarey,” said an MMRCL spokesperson.

At least 20 trucks and eight cranes were deployed in the exercise on Monday at multiple locations inside Aarey, including the arterial Dinkar Rao Desai Marg, the Swami Samarth Math Road leading to Royal Palms, and Marol-Maroshi Road leading to the Metro-3 car-shed. Though no trees were seen being cut from the trunk, several large branches were chopped off and divided up with chainsaws. Two earthmoving machines were operated inside the depot plot.

“The state government in 2019 told the Supreme Court that no more trees will be cut in Aarey. The SC accepted their statement and issued a status quo order, taking suo motu cognizance of the damage which had already been done. There is no question of cutting any more trees, with or without permissions. Large branches have been hacked off en masse,” said Zoru Bhatena, another petitioner before the SC.

In a statement released in the afternoon, the MMRCL clarified that they did not cut any trees. “A prototype train has been dispatched from Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, and will be in Mumbai arriving soon. The activity undertaken is restricted only to tree trimming/pruning to facilitate movement of the trailer to the receiving and assembly area created for the purpose of trials at Marol Maroshi Road.” The Metro-3 trial runs will be carried out between the temporary parking facility in Marol and the Marol Naka Metro Station.

Monday’s diversion led to major traffic snarls throughout the day near the main entrance to Aarey Colony on the Western Express Highway at Goregaon. Motorists were turned away from the check nakas at Marol, Goregaon and Powai, and diverted to the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). Several BEST bus routes through Aarey Colony including numbers 460, 489, 398, 341, 478, 326 were diverted to JVLR as well. Deepak Bhilore, a Royal Palms resident said, “My daughter was stopped at the Goregaon check naka around 8.30 am. She was not allowed to enter until I sent her a copy of our electricity bill as proof of residence.”

Meanwhile, a day after two Save Aarey campaigners (also Aarey Colony residents) were served notices under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code warning them against “unlawful assembly”, even as protests against the upcoming metro carshed in Aarey were held in 15 cities on Sunday, four protesters were detained on Monday. Tabrez Sayed, Jayesh Bhise — both of whom received notices the day prior — as well as activists Rohit Jadhav and Laxman Jadhav were detained by the police on Monday.

The protestors were picked up at different hours of the day and taken to Vanrai Police Station. The four were finally released at 8:30pm, after over a dozen Save Aarey activists held a silent, sit-in protest at Vanrai Police Station. This was more than 10 hours after Sayed and Bhise were first detained. When contacted for a comment, Rajesh Nandimath, senior police inspector at Vanrai, declined to talk.

“I was held for a total of 12 hours. As per law, I should have been taken to Aarey police station and not Vanrai. When I asked whether I have been detained or arrested, I was told neither. But still I was not allowed to leave. I was not asked to sign any papers or give anything official in writing. The police officials didn’t mistreat me personally, but this was a clear tactic to scare off anyone protesting for the cause of Aarey,” Sayed said shortly after he was released on Monday night.

Ruben Mascarenhas, Mumbai Working President, Aam Aadmi Party, who visited the police station to assist the detainees, said, “The detention is illegal. The police have not provided any written order for detention. The officers at Vanrai station have told me that the Aarey Police brought them here since they didn’t have enough place. DCP Somnath Gharge is not taking calls, and the additional police commissioner seems to be on leave.”

One of the first decisions of the newly-formed Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government was to greenlight the car shed in Aarey Colony, reversing the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government’s decision to develop the shed in Kanjurmarg instead.