24/08/2022
SC PROHIBITS MUMBAI METRO FROM CUTTING ANY MORE TREES IN AAREY .
Updated on : 24, August,2022. Thursday : 23:55.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) of strict action if any tree in Mumbai's Aarey Colony area has been cut in violation of the company's affidavit filed on August 5 in connection with the construction of a shed on 33 hectares of land inside Aarey.
The court made the observation while considering a batch of petitions filed by NGOs and environmental activists opposing the cutting of trees and development work undertaken by MMRC to build the Metro shed in the plot as it forms part of the "green lung" of Mumbai.
Senior advocate Anitha Shenoy, appearing for NGO Vanashakti, urged the top court to issue a status quo order, stopping any kind of work in connection with the project. She also referred to photographs produced by the NGO showing clearing activity in the area.
"In that case, you (MMRC) will not go ahead with any development work," the bench said.
In response, MMRC counsel Rukmini Bobde assured the court: "No trees have been cut since October 7, 2019 and will not be cut in any manner."
With the next hearing in the matter fixed for August 30, the bench told Shenoy, "It is only a matter of five days. In case they violate the undertaking, we will take strict cognisance of it."
The bench of justices Uday Umesh Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia added: "The said undertaking as given by Director MMRCL on August 5 has already been taken on record. MMRCL shall strictly be bound by the terms of its undertaking."
The Metro car shed -- originally through an order passed by the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government in September 2019 -- is to come up on 33 hectares in Aarey colony.
But the surrounding area was declared as a "reserved forest" by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government under former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who decided to shift the project site to Kanjurmarg -- a decision that was hailed by environmental activists.
However, when the Eknath Shinde-led government took over in June -- now with Fadnavis as deputy CM -- its first order was bringing back the shed to the assigned plot in Aarey.
Aaditya Thackeray, former environment minister and Shiv Sena leader said, "This is an unconstitutional government, and they are acting outside the ambit of the constitution. We are concerned not just about the trees, but the forests (in Aarey)."
Vanashakti approached the court with an application last month claiming that the felling of trees resumed at the site from July 25, in violation of the October 7, 2019, "status quo" order passed by the apex court after the state government gave an undertaking that no such act would be carried out.
When the top court heard the matter on August 5, MMRC director Charuhas Jadhav filed an affidavit claiming that only a few bushes were cleared, and some branches were trimmed to ensure smooth vehicular movement on the approach road to the site. The affidavit further said that till October 7, 2019, around 2,141 trees were cut for the project, but since then "no trees were cut and the project did not proceed further".
Recording these submissions, the bench said on August 5, "Suffice it to say that as stated by the concerned respondent, no further trees have been cut since the order dated October 7, 2019 and shall not be cut in any manner till the next date of hearing."
Since then, the matter has been adjourned twice. On Wednesday, when the matter was taken up again, the Maharashtra government, represented by senior standing counsel Rahul Chitnis, sought adjournment for the circulation of documents.
"How many times do we allow this matter to keep adjourning now and then?" the bench asked. The NGO had opposed the state's request.
The Metro car shed project for phase three of Mumbai Metro was first proposed to be set up at Aarey, near Sanjay Gandhi National Park, in 2013, by then Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. The matter was taken first to the Bombay high court by Vanashakti in 2017.
After the status quo order passed by the Supreme Court in October 2019, the Thackeray government appointed a technical committee led by the chief secretary, and comprising the BMC commissioner, and officers from the department of forests, environment and MMRC, to examine the feasibility of continuing with the project at Aarey. The committee concluded that the site at Kanjurmarg was suitable for the project.
An MMRCL spokesperson did not respond to Hindustan Times' requests for comment on Wednesday.
Zoru Bhathena, one of the petitioners in the matter, alleged that the state government is wilfully delaying the proceedings before the apex court. "First, the Chief Justice of India had allotted the matter to the bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, but the advocate for MMRCL objected saying she could not appear before him. On another occasion, the government sought adjournment as a family member of their advocate had expired. Now they have sought time to file records even though they had been clearly instructed to do so by August 10. We are very hopeful that the hearing will begin in earnest next week."
Sanjiv Valsan, a community organiser with the Save Aarey movement, expressed disappointment at the slow pace of court proceedings. "The photographs clearly show the extent of green cover which the MMRCL has cleared on the plot in July. All of it cannot be weeds and shrubs, as they are saying. When a group of volunteers approached the police to probe if MMRCL is violating Supreme Court orders, we were not entertained. The SC now seems to have accepted the MMRCL's submission that no new trees have been cut. It is a fait accompli scenario, where all other parties are simply accepted to take the MMRCL at its word.
