Mumbai Aarey Colony protests Highlights |‘They made corpses of lungs of Mumbai’: Cong slams tree felling at Aarey

Protests against cutting of trees in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony for a Metro project intensified on Saturday and 29 activists were arrested by police. The police, in an official release, said 29 people were arrested under several sections of IPC after some among the 100-200 protesters got into a scuffle with police officials and assaulted them. Earlier on Saturday morning, Mumbai Police set up check post to stop protesters from moving towards Aarey Colony and the administration imposed prohibitory orders around the colony as the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) resumed felling trees with the help of Mumbai Police around 3:15 am. The protests, which began on Friday night, are against the cutting down of 2,646 trees to construct a car shed for Metro Line 3 soon after the Bombay HC ruled in favour of MMRC, dismissing all petitions against felling trees and refused to declare the colony as a forest. The court order also upheld the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Tree Authority decision to fell the trees. Watch| Aarey potests: Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi detained by police Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, the party’s candidate from Worli assembly seat for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls, the Congress and many celebrities have condemned the cutting of trees at Aarey Colony and police action against the protesters. Here are the live updates:

2:15pm IST

‘They made corpses of lungs of Mumbai’: Congress criticises Centre on Aarey

The Congress also hit out at the Centre for the cutting down of trees at Aarey Colony. In a tweet from its official account, the party said, “ Last night- they came in the middle of the night, armed with axes and malicious intent, they made corpses of the lungs of Mumbai.”

1:56pm IST

Environment minister Javadekar backs metro shed at Aarey

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday backed the proposed metro shed in Aarey forest area and said that development and environment protection should be done together, reports ANI.

He said, “The High Court has ruled that Aarey is not a forest. Metro came to Delhi; now today it is the best metro across the world. How does it develop? When the first metro station was constructed, 20-25 trees were cut down. People then protested against it, ” drawing parallels between the development of Delhi Metro and Mumbai metro.

“But metro has planted 5 trees for every single tree that it has taken down. Now, there are 271 stations. Forest undercover area has increased in Delhi. 30 lakh people are using the metro as public transport. This is the mantra of development and protecting the environment. Both should go together,” the BJP leader said.

1:50pm IST

Activists taken to Goregaon police station

An unspecified number of activists were forcefully evacuated from Aarey check post and taken to local police station at Goregaon.

1:31pm IST

‘We’re not letting go of issue’: Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Aarey

Talking about the issue in a press conference in Mumbai, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said, “Aarey is an important issue. We are not letting go of the issue. I will take all information on what happened last night, today and will speak openly about it. I am confident that our government is coming back to power; then we will see what has to be done to the killers of the trees.”

1:27pm IST

Activist hugs tree at entry of Aarey Colony

An activist was seen hugging a tree at the entry into Aarey forest from Marol Maroshi Road where Section 144 has been imposed.

An activist hugs a tree outside the Aarey Colony, October 5, 2019. ( ANI / Twitter )

1:20pm IST

Felling of trees underway in Aarey Colony

Felling of trees is underway in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony even as police arrested 29 activists who were among those protesting the felling of trees.

1:10pm IST

‘Who is authorizing this?’ Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray tweets

Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena’s Worli candidate and son of party president Uddhav Thackeray, posted a series of tweets to back activists protesting the cutting of trees.