They alleged that the TMC's tree authority first refused to take their objections citing that it was too much work for them, wasting their time, and then took only 250 of the 700 objection letters
Over 700 youth including college students from Thane have alleged that they were ignored by the TMC when they objected against the cutting, trimming and chopping of over 478 trees to construct the Metro Line 4.
They alleged that the TMC's tree authority first refused to take their objections citing that it was too much work for them, wasting their time, and then took only 250 of the 700 objection letters.
On Wednesday, Sushank Tomar, 22, a resident of Upvan in Thane, and four of his friends went to the office of the tree authority at the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC).
"Through newspaper advertisements placed by TMC, we learned that the authority is going to transplant 478 trees, cut 13 and trim 72 trees for the proposed Metro Line 4 from Mulund Checknaka to Majiwada in Thane," said Tomar.
The advertisement, however, does not speak about the kind of trees to be felled or transplanted, nor their location, he said.
"Since these points are not clear, we want a public hearing with the TA. So we went to the office to submit objection letters," said Tomar.
"We also learned that 60 percent of the trees that were transplanted for Metro Line 3 died. We do not want that to happen in Thane as Checknaka-Majiwada, which is on the Eastern Express Highway, has many trees, and if they are chopped, it will add to the ever-rising pollution," he said.
He said they had a hard time submitting the objection letters, which are from college and school students, housing societies, and also residents from Kalyan and Dombivali.
"Anuraddha Babar, assistant municipal commissioner, refused to take so many applications. She said it was not possible to acknowledge so many objections and took 150 and asked us to come the next day," he said.
On Thursday, the authority took 100 more applications. "We were asked to get a photocopy of the notice we were objecting to, which is not required; one only has to give the ad's reference number. Then we were asked not to be present on the premises, even while we were in the middle of doing the paperwork," he said.
Our calls and messages to Anuraddha Babar and Sandeep Malvi, public relations officer, TMC, went unanswered.
IT BEGAN WITH AN AD
A newspaper ad said the Thane Municipal Corporation is going to transplant 478 trees, cut 13 and trim 72 trees for the proposed Metro Line 4 from Mulund Checknaka to Majiwada in Thane, the youth said.
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