The Supreme Court said on Monday that no more trees should be cleared from the Metro-3 carshed site till it determines whether Aarey Colony can be called a forest, an issue that is already pending with the apex court.
The directive to maintain the status quo was given by a special bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan. A group of law students had on Sunday approached Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi seeking urgent intervention.
The students' application against tree felling at Aarey, which was converted into a public interest litigation, will be taken up along with the pending appeals on October 21. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation had begun clearing trees on October 4 night, hours after the Bombay High Court dismissed petitions challenging the move.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the state and the BMC said the trees required to be cut have been cut and no more felling of trees is required. The counsel for Maharashtra in SC, Nishant Katneshwarkar, later clarified to DNA that the order will not affect the Metro project that is underway. He said the bench wanted immediate release of all the activists who had been arrested for protesting at the site have been granted bail.
Depot Diary
|
- Clearing of trees started on Oct 4 after HC dismisses pleas challenging Tree Authority’s nod to chop 2,185 trees at Aarey
|
- Action triggers protests and arrests. Activists move the SC, which forms a special bench and hears the matter on Monday
|
- Heavy police presence continues to hamper movement of vehicles carrying fodder for cattle shed inside Aarey Colony
|
- Milk producers say the clampdown has affected their business as the cattle there are not getting enough feed and fodder
|
Representing the petitioners, senior advocate Sanjay Hedge and Gopal Shankaranaraynan said the state shouldn't have gone ahead with chopping trees as the SC is seized with the question of what constitutes forest in the context of Aarey Colony. The produced documents to claim that the area in question was a "no development zone".
Mehta contended that the HC order of last week held clearly that the carshed area presently neither a "protected or reserved forest" under the Indian Forest Act 1927 nor an eco-sensitive zone.
The issue of whether the spot is in an eco-sensitive zone is under consideration before the National Green Tribunal.
Though the state government tried to convince the court that the project will reduce only 2% of the total tree cover, the SC said, "That may not be relevant. If it is illegally converted, it may not be permitted."
The bench even sought an update on the number of saplings planted by the state to compensate for the trees chopped as suggested by a technical expert committee before sanctioning the land for the carshed. The state has said that it has already planted over 21,000 saplings. By next date, the court sought information on how many of it still survive.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Aarey Colony")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}