82,000 object to tree cutting at Aarey

Mumbai: Till Monday morning, the garden department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received over 82,000 objections to the removal of 2,702 trees at Aarey for the metro 3 car shed.

The BMC had scheduled the second public hearing on the proposal to axe trees at Aarey that was attended by around 800 people who raised objections and gave suggestions. Around 40 to 50 people raised doubts but no one got satisfactory answers.

Although, the Mumbai civic body said it received over 82,000 objections, counting is still not over. According to activists, a total 1.15 lakh objections were sent to the BMC. The last public hearing had received 30,000 objections.

The BMC re-published the notice to remove 2,702 trees at Aarey after the Supreme Court allowed the state government to construct the metro car shed there. The proposal includes cutting of 2,238 trees and transplantation of 464.

The first public hearing was conducted last year where chaos was seen as MMRC and BMC officers did not answer the public’s questions.

Noted activist Zoru Bathena said, “The BMC had clarified that it will only hear our questions Saturday that will be presented to the tree authority. It seems the hearing was just a formality and the authorities have already made up their mind to axe those trees. However, the public response was overwhelming and it was great to see people support saving the green cover in the city.”

At present, the BMC’s tree authority has got a court stay on taking decisions. However, the garden department is allowed to publish notices and conduct hearings for tree cutting proposals. The BMC expects the tree authority to start functioning soon but wants to clear the rest of the formalities for the Aarey tree removal proposal.