Tree body to visit Aarey metro site
The activists have planned for a human chain in Aarey during the visit of tree authority members.
Mumbai: The members of the Tree Authority will visit the Metro 3 car shed site in Aarey today. The authority — which has maximum number of Shiv Sena members had last week stalled the permission to axe 2,238 trees in Aarey citing unsatisfactory answers from civic administration on 82,000 objections filed against tree cutting in Aarey.
This has also paved way for tiff between Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the state elections.
The Supreme Court recently allowed the state government to construct the car shed in Aarey after which the proposal for tree cutting was re-submitted to the Brihan-mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and was tabled before the tree authority for sanction. Out of the 2,702 trees, around 2,238 trees have been proposed to be cut and 464 trees for transplantation.
Shiv Sena leader and tree authority member Yashwant Jadhav said, “We were always against tree cutting in Aarey and we are firm on our stand. We are not against the metro project, however we want to know what answers the administration has given to 82,000 objections and why car shed cannot be shifted to Kanjurmarg”.
“We are not politicising the issue. Our objective is to save the green cover. During our visit, we will inspect the trees proposed to be cut, site for transplantation etc,” Mr Jadhav added.
Meanwhile, the activists have planned for a human chain in Aarey during the visit of tree authority members.