Mumbai Metro car shed: Midnight drama at Aarey as tree cutting begins, activists storm site

Aarey Milk Colony was the site of drama late on Friday night as Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), emboldened by the Bombay high court’s (HC) decision to uphold

Aarey Milk Colony was the site of drama late on Friday night as Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), emboldened by the Bombay high court’s (HC) decision to uphold the tree authority’s nod to the felling of 2,646 trees, got cracking.

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At least 200 trees were felled before environmentalists and residents stormed the site, causing MMRC workers to flee.

Despite repeated calls and text messages, Ashwini Bhide, managing director of MMRC, who were cutting the trees, and the BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi, did not respond.

However, Bhide later tweeted: “A new false propaganda is in the air that 15 days’ notice is required after the tree authority’s order is uploaded on the 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.”

Stalin D, one of the petitioners, who was at the spot, said, “Trees have been massacred. At least 200 trees have been hacked. Workers at the site fled after seeing the protests,” said Stalin. “What was the hurry to fell the trees?”

“Trees are being cut at the site of the car shed,” said Swapnil Pawar, a local resident.

On Friday morning, a division bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre dismissed petitions by activist Zoru Bhathena and Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav, who is also a member of the BMC’s tree authority.

Bhathena had questioned the validity of the decision on the grounds of lack of application of mind and due deliberations on the proposal submitted by the MMRC, seeking the removal of 2,702 trees — 2,238 to be cut and 464 to be transplanted.

This number was later revised by the tree authority to 2,646.

The bench rejected the contention.

“The fact that the proposal of the project proponent was scaled down with respect to the number of trees to be felled is proof of the decision being fair, transparent and based on reason,” said the bench.

The bench rejected Bhathena’s argument that the authority did not get adequate time to deliberate on the proposal.

It said that the deliberations took place not only at its meeting on August 29, but also during the three site visits to Aarey Colony.

As regards to his contention that all objections to the tree-cutting proposal were not placed before the tree authority, the bench noted that the report of the tree officer placed before the authority did contain summary of the objections.

“The objections were mostly repetitive and surely, all one lakh objections were not expected to be placed before the tree authority,” said the bench.

Bhathena had also argued that it was inconceivable that the three independent experts who opposed the proposal in writing twice, first on August 13 and then on August 17, would change their views barely a fortnight later.

The judges found no substance in the argument as it overlooked the fact that all proposals of the experts, except two, have been accepted by the tree authority.

These two issues pertain to permitting cutting a sole Beheda tree and 623 Subabhul trees.

The court found force in the argument of the authority that the Subabhul trees were allowed to be cut, rather than asking MMRC to transplant them in view of the fact that this is not a native Indian forest tree, but an ornamental one. Besides, the rate of their survival being low in case of transplantation, the decision was taken to allow then to be cut instead of “wasting good money” on transplantation.

The bench also discarded the objection of the 44-year-old businessman that there were large-scale fluctuations in number of trees to be felled for the Metro car shed. While a 2012 report mentioned 1,652 trees to be cut, two years later, a proposal sought 254 trees to be cut and 2,044 to be transplanted. There was one more change in 2016 and eventually by the July 21, 2017 proposal, the MMRC sought to cut 2,238 and transplant 464 trees.

The bench said “this is simple quibbling or at best squabbling” for the simple reason that the census data did reveal existence of 3,691 trees at the 33-hectare land earmarked for the Metro car shed. The number of trees to be cut kept fluctuating as the boundaries for the car shed had not been fixed at the relevant times.

The court also took note of the positive aspects of the matter that MMRC has already planted 7 times — 20,900 compensatory trees — in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), with a proven survival rate of 95%.

Besides, the Metro line is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2,61,968 tonnes per year because of reduced dependence on motorised transport. The bench noted that the carbon dioxide sequestration of 2,646 trees for their entire lifetime, calculated at 12,79,062 kg, would be compensated by 3,948 fully loaded trips on the Metro line. The bench imposed Rs50,000 on Jadhav for “sheer voyeurism.” He has been directed to pay the amount to State Legal Aid Fund after noticing that his petition was “sans any material particulars and bereft of concise statement of material facts.”

Jadhav who too was opposed to the decision of the tree authority had claimed that the minutes of the August 29 meeting did reflect facts.

Meanwhile, the bench also dismissed another petition filed by Bhathena, challenging the same decision on the grounds that the car shed was proposed on floodplains of Mithi river.

According to him, Mithi river flows past Aarey Colony and it overflows the land abutting the banks function as a floodplain and vice versa acts as a catchment area. The court rejected the petition in view of the fact that the argument has already been turned down by another bench of the high court last year in a separate connected matter. Besides, the bench also noted that the water policy invoked by the 44-year-old did not expressly prohibit construction in floodplains.

After pronouncement of the judgment, advocate Zaman Ali, appearing for one of the petitioners, requested the court to order MMRC to maintain status quo as regards to tree cutting for the Metro car shed. The bench refused to pass an order, but said “we hope they will maintain status quo.”

Vanashakti plea quashed

The court on Friday also dismissed a petition filed by a non-governmental organisation, Vanashakti, seeking a declaration that 2,280 hectares of Aarey Colony was a protected forest as contemplated under provisions of the Indian Forests Act, 1927

The petitioner body claimed that Aarey Colony was contiguous to the Sanjay Gandhi Natural Park (SGNP) and has natural tree cover, including forest species and the area was rich in biodiversity. The court, however, felt that the issue was pending before the Supreme Court in TN Godavarman’s case and the petitioner body should therefore move the Apex Court for the relief.