Aarey land where trees will be cut not forest: CM Devendra Fadnavis

The tree authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently gave its nod to cut 2,185 trees and transplant 464 trees in Aarey for the Metro-3 car depot.

Amid public uproar, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday supported axing of trees to build the Metro car shed at Aarey Colony. He said even the Supreme Court has said that they are not forest trees and chopping trees and forest being destroyed is just a misconception.

chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday supported axing of trees to build the Metro car shed at Aarey Colony. (Yogen Shah)

The tree authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently gave its nod to cut 2,185 trees and transplant 464 trees in Aarey for the Metro-3 car depot. Soon after the decision, Mumbaiites, politicians and Bollywood personalities began a campaign to save Aarey. Recently, playback singer Lata Mangeshkar opposed the move.

He was speaking at an interaction with students at an event organised by India’s International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) leadership series held at NSCI in Worli. “This matter had gone up to the Supreme Court and the apex court too has said that what the state government doing is right. The land where the trees are being cut is not a forest land. With the underground Metro project, we will be able to mitigate carbon footprint to an extent that we would have needed 2 crore full grown trees otherwise,” Fadnavis said.

“Of the 2700 trees, some 500 trees will be replanted and a few trees will be cut against which we will plant 3,000 full grown trees. The state is trying to strike a balance between development and environment. It is a misconception the government is destroying forest and trees are getting chopped. Even I am an environmentalist and felling every single tree pains me,” he asserted, answering a question.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis admitted the country was facing a slowdown. “There has been a global slowdown for the past five years...We could insulate for four years, but this year we are facing little heat. Reason is lots of changes such as new tax system... But this disruption is temporary,” he said.