In their first cabinet meeting held hours after coming to power, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis took the first step towards overturning the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government's decision of relocating the proposed Mumbai Metro Line-3 car shed from Aarey Colony.
The blaze started around 6:30 pm on Monday in an open plot near an IT Park along the General Arun Kumar Vaidya Marg in the western suburb, located adjacent to the Colony.
In a shocking incident, Mumbai's Aarey Colony has lost one of its most beloved residents -- Chandni, a six-year-old female leopard, who was found dead on Saturday afternoon with a wire snare setup by poachers.
The Supreme Court of India has directed the tree authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to halt any further tree felling in Mumbai's Aarey colony without its permission. The order comes after the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) informed the court that there were no pending proposals to cut more trees in the area. The court has previously permitted the felling of a limited number of trees for a metro rail project, but has also imposed penalties on the MMRCL for exceeding its permitted limits.
A video of cutting and felling of trees in Aarey is being circulated by protestors on social media.
Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com meets the Mumbaikars protesting the decision to relocate the Metro carshed in the city's Aarey Colony forest, an ecological disaster.
The Bombay high court on Monday directed the Mumbai civic body to clarify how it has issued a public notice seeking to cut 177 trees at the Aarey Colony area for a Metro car shed project when the Supreme Court in 2022 permitted felling of only 84 trees.
A court on Sunday ordered the release of protesters on certain conditions, including production of personal surety of Rs 7,000 and assurance that they would not take part in protests.
The city police have started issuing notices under section 149 of the CrPC, prohibiting unlawful gathering at the protest venue in the western suburb of Goregaon, he said.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
In an important decision, the new government in Maharashtra on Thursday announced lifting of the stay on the construction of Mumbai Metro-3 car shed at the controversial site in the Aarey Colony, a green belt in the city's western suburbs.
Holding placards, the protesters raised slogans against the new government's proposal to shift the Metro-3 car shed project back to Mumbai's Aarey forest, an 1,800-acre area that is often termed as the megalopolis's 'green lung'.
Mehta said some bushes were there on the ground which have been cleared and some branches were trimmed so that vehicles could pass on an approach road there.
After taking charge as the chief minister on November 29, Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government, had announced stay on construction of the metro car shed project in the colony, a prime green lung of the city
A landslide in the Vikhroli suburb of Mumbai killed two people and injured two others after heavy rains caused soil and stones to collapse on a hut.
MMRC Managing Director Ashwini Bhide, in a series of tweets, said the activists should accept their defeat in the court "honorably".
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to install a "so-called Shiv Sainik" as Maharashtra chief minister when it did not keep its 2019 promise of rotating the top post, and slammed the new government's move to relocate a Mumbai Metro car shed to green belt of Aarey Colony, reversing a key decision of the previous regime.
Professor Avkash Jadhav, head of the history department at St Xavier's College and trustee of the city-based KAASH Foundation, said a Special Investigation Team should be set up to inspect the site where trees were cut and ascertain the actual damage done.
Observing that the Mumbai Metro has made an attempt to overreach the court's jurisdiction, the Supreme Court on Monday directed it to pay Rs 10 lakh fine within two weeks for felling of trees in Aarey forest beyond permission.
Apart from leopards, a wide range of species of flora and fauna is found in the Aarey forest, an 1,800 acre area termed as the city's 'green lung', located in suburban Goregaon and adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
The apex child rights body NCPCR on Monday sought an FIR against Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray for allegedly using children in his party's campaign to save Mumbai's Aarey forest.
The fight for Mumbai's green lung continues through the Ganesh Utsav festival.
Activists and leaders of the opposition -- Congress and Nationalist Congress Party on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's order restraining authorities from cutting anymore trees in Aarey Colony in Mumbai to make way for a Metro car shed.
Thackeray said not a single tree leaf will be cut till further developments.
We stand by our decision to oppose the proposed car shed at Aarey Colony, said Uddhav.
On September 20, the Maharashtra government had told the court that Aarey cannot be declared a forest just because of its greenery.
The party went on to say that the "the way the Aarey issue is being oppressed, it is nothing but dictatorship".
India has long struggled to find a suitable definition; activists hope that this case changes norms, reports Geetika Srivastava.
Uddhav said the protesters were citizens standing up for future of the planet.
The activists argued that an appeal would be filed in the apex court on Monday but by then the MMRCL would have completed cutting all the trees in the colony.
The apex court on Sunday set up a special bench on the basis of a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India by one Rishav Ranjan against the cutting of the trees.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd to pursue its plea with the relevant authority for felling 84 trees at Mumbai's Aarey Colony for constructing train ramps at its car shed project, saying it cannot be "oblivious of serious dislocation" which may be caused in projects involving "large public funds".
Activist Zoru Bathena has filed a petition challenging the civic tree authority's approval on August 29 for felling trees for the car shed.
The MMRCL informed that only clearing of already felled trees will continue at the site.
The apex court has directed that status quo be maintained till its next hearing on October 21.
There have been no reports of casualties. Neither is the cause of the fire known.
A bench of justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta sought a status report with pictures on plantation, transplantation and felling of trees in Aarey colony area of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
'It was immoral to cut the trees at Aarey, says Delhi law student Rishav Ranjan.
Prakash Javadekar said the forest cover in the national capital has increased since then and public transport system has also improved.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who said, the forest would be the first example of a "huge jungle" being conserved at the centre of a megapolis, an official statement said.
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