Aarey row escalates: 29 protestors arrested, police block entry points

The row over cutting of trees at Aarey Milk Colony escalated on Saturday, with the Mumbai police arresting 29 protestors and detaining around 100 others, after they

The row over cutting of trees at Aarey Milk Colony escalated on Saturday, with the Mumbai police arresting 29 protestors and detaining around 100 others, after they stormed the site of the Metro-3 car shed on Friday night. The police also imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (banning unlawful assembly) in Aarey to “maintain law-and-order” and blocked all three entry points – Goregaon (at western express highway), Powai and Marol – to the area.

HT Image

The green activists, meanwhile, suffered a second blow in as many days when the Bombay high court on Saturday refused to stay the felling of trees at Aarey. The activists had sought a week’s stay so that they can approach the Supreme Court.

The drama began on Friday evening as the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), which is building the Metro-3 car shed, began cutting trees at Aarey after the Bombay high court earlier in the day upheld the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) tree authority’s nod to axe 2,646 trees. As word spread about the tree-cutting, locals and activists gathered at the site around 11pm, forced their way past the barricades and stopped MMRC workers from felling trees. Police detained around 50 people and work resumed around 3am, after the site was cordoned off.

While protestors claimed they were manhandled by police personnel, the latter refuted the allegations and said that their personnel were injured when the activists clashed with them. The police on Saturday registered a case under Sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 143 and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“The allegations made by some persons of high handedness by Mumbai Police during the Aarey bandobast are false. All due procedures were followed while handling the situation,” said Pranaya Ashok, deputy commissioner of police (Operations).

Meanwhile, the 29 arrested protestors were produced before the Borivli metropolitan magistrate court, which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days. Lawyers of the accused filed bail pleas, which will be heard on October 7. Most of those who were detained were released on Saturday.

Stalin D, director of non-governmental organisation Vanashakti and one of the petitioners, said they were “deeply disappointed” by the turn of events since Friday. “Doors to the destruction of Aarey have opened since many other projects are in the pipeline. A citizen’s movement to save trees on such a large scale has never happened in the history of Mumbai. Citizens should not be ashamed that they didn’t win, but should see themselves as warriors.”

The BMC and MMRC, however, defended the tree-cutting, saying it was done without breaking any laws or rules.

MMRC managing director Ashwini Bhide, in a series of tweets, said the activists should accept their defeat in the court “honourably”. “A new false propaganda is in the air that 15 days’ notice is required after tree authority order getting uploaded on website. This is absolutely baseless. Tree authority order is issued on 13th Sept 19. 15 days are over on 28th Sept. Action awaited till Hon HC verdict was out,” she tweeted.

Civic chief Praveen Pardeshi, too, clarified that the stipulated waiting period (15 days) is only from the date of the permission being granted, and not from the date it is uploaded online.

The controversy also took a political turn with the Shiv Sena, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Opposition parties hitting out at the government and authorities over the tree-cutting.

Terming the axing of trees in Aarey Colony as “shameful and disgusting”, Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray tweeted that the Metro-3 officials should be posted in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to destroy terror camps rather than trees. “The vigour with which the @MumbaiMetro3 is slyly and swiftly cutting down an ecosystem in Aarey is shameful and disgusting. How about posting these officials in PoK, giving them charge to destroy terror camps rather than trees?” Aaditya tweeted.

“A project that should be executed with pride, the Metro 3, @MumbaiMetro3 has to do it in the cover of the night, with shame, slyness and heavy cop cover. The project supposed to get Mumbai clean air, is hacking down a forest with a leopard, rusty spotted cat and more,” he said in another tweet.

His father and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said they will deal with the “murderers of trees” after coming back to power. ““Aarey is an important issue. We are not letting go of the issue…” he said.

Congress leaders Milind Deora and Sanjay Nirupam, too, condemned the felling of trees at Aarey.

While Nirupam said the Sena was adopting “double standards”, as it condemned tree-felling but continued to support the BJP-led government, Deora tweeted: “It’s like repeatedly stabbing yourself in the lungs. When cities destroy coastlines and green cover, they are advancing the doomsday clock.”

While nobody from the state government has reacted on the issue so far, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, speaking to the media in Lucknow, defended MMRC move to fell trees in Aarey, saying it was “not a forest”. “Basically the high court has decided and ruled yesterday [Friday] that it is not a forest,” Javadekar said. “You can’t fell anything that is forest.”

Drawing a parallel, the Union minister said trees had to be cut for Delhi Metro also and it was opposed by activists even then. Terming the Delhi Metro the best of its kind in the world, he said there was a need to cut 20 to 25 trees to set up the first metro station in Delhi and people had similarly opposed it.

“But for each tree cut, five saplings were planted. All have become trees in 15 years,” he said. “Delhi’s jungle cover has increased and public transport for 30 lakh people was arranged. This is the mantra of ‘vikas bhi, paryavaran ki suraksha bhi’ (sustainable development).”