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Supreme Court stops tree felling at Aarey till next hearing on Wednesday
The interim order came on an application moved by NGO Vanashakti claiming that trees are being cut since July 25 this year in violation of an interim order passed by the top court on October 7, 2019 directing status quo on cutting of trees
The Supreme Court on Friday said no tree will be felled at Mumbai’s Aarey forest area till it takes up the petition filed by environment activists on Wednesday challenging a proposed Metro shed and parking space as part of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (MMRC) third phase project that is to come up on this land.
The development came after the MMRCL informed the Court that no tree had been cut in the Aarey area and all that was being done was removal of shrubs and pruning of branches of trees projecting on the approach road.
The bench of justices UU Lalit, Aniruddha Bose and S Ravindra Bhatt said, “Considering the facts on record, in our view…it will suffice to say as stated by the respondent Corporation that no tree has been cut since October 7, 2019 and no further tree will be cut will be cut till the next date of hearing.” The bench fixed the next date of hearing on August 10 when the pending matters related to Aarey forest and the need for preserving this area as the “green lung” of Mumbai will be listed for hearing.
The interim order came on an application moved by NGO Vanashakti claiming that trees are being cut since July 25 this year in violation of an interim order passed by the top court on October 7, 2019 directing status quo on cutting of trees. The application further stated that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had then given an assurance on behalf of the state government that no further tree shall be cut.
Mehta appeared for MMRCL and filed a short affidavit denying Vanashakti’s claims. Mehta said, “There is a statement I made on October 7, 2019 on no further cutting of trees. Thereafter there has been no cutting of trees.” Mehta said it is unfortunate that the applicant was stating facts wrongly. “In the 2-3 years when the project (on Metro shed) was dormant, some bushes were cleared and for the approach road, pruning of branches took place. The applicants have attached photographs (of tree cutting) of some other area.”
The MMRCL further informed the Court that prior to the Court’s status quo order in October 2019, about 2,141 trees were cut. “Thereafter no trees were cut and the project did not proceed further.” When he objected to the manner in which PIL petitioner had approached the Court with wrong facts, the bench said, “There are certain advantages of having public interest litigations.” Mehta replied, “Inaccurate statements sometimes create a bad taste.”
The state government made no submission. However, the petitioner Vanashakti led by senior advocate CU Singh and advocate Srishti Agnihotri pointed out that the 33 hectare area which was protected by the Court in October 2019 should be preserved. Singh told the Court that pursuant to the status quo order, the state government issued an order on November 29, 2019 staying the work on the Metro shed.
Subsequently, the state government appointed a Technical Committee headed by Chief Secretary and comprising Municipal Commissioner of Greater Mumbai and officers drawn from department of forests, environment and MMRCL to examine feasibility of continuing with the project at Aarey. The Committee concluded that the site at Kanjurmarg (site for Metro Line-6), having an area of 41.27 hectares is suitable for Metro Car Shed as the earlier plot of 33 hectares at Aarey colony is a forest land.
The application by Vanashakti said, “In complete violation of the status quo order, the State Government and MMRCL have proceeded to commence construction work on the Metro Car Shed plot, that has already been decided to be protected as a forestland, and initiated cutting of trees on a daily basis commencing from July 25, 2022.”It also alleged MMRCL of excavating and removing the lush green top soil of the forest by using JCBs and other heavy machineries under police protection.
Environmental activists led by Vanashakti had moved the top court earlier in 2019 challenging an order of the Bombay high court of October 26, 2018 which declared that the entire Aarey colony comprising 1,280 hectares is not a forest. The appeals, which are still pending in the top court, emphasized the importance of Aarey, located near Sanjay Gandhi National Park, serving as a green cover within Mumbai having lush vegetation, rich flora and fauna and approximately over 4.84 lakh trees.
