Be it metro or development, tree cutting isn’t allowed: Supreme Court’s strict warning

New Delhi: Supreme Court stern warning to Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. Whether metro train or upgrade. Do what you’re doing, don’t cut trees in ‘Array’ Colony, Mumbai. Strict action will be taken if you violate any rule or order. A three-member jury presided over by Justice UU Lalit gave this verdict after hearing the case.

The court said that the next hearing of this case will be on August 30. In the meantime, the advocate of the Maharashtra government will have to appear with the necessary documents. A report has also been submitted in court by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. His lawyer has stated in a statement that no trees have been cut there. Senior advocate Anita Shenoy appeared on behalf of the petitioner and said that the cleaning and leveling work is being done in violation of the Supreme Court order. Earlier, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation said that no tree has been cut in Mumbai’s Array Colony since 2019.

In 2019, the Supreme Court intervened in this case. Then a law student wrote a letter to the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In this petition, he asked to stop the falling of trees in Array Colony. Later, after the report of the Solicitor General on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court ordered the relevant authorities not to cut any more trees.

The cutting of trees in the said colony was strongly opposed by local environmentalists and some environmentalists. In October 2019, the Bombay High Court refused to comment on the matter. A petition was filed against the cutting of 2600 trees in the said colony. As it is a forest area, there was a demand to stop the cutting of trees. However, the High Court refused to say anything. According to information, this tree would have been cut for the Mumbai Metro car shed.