Metro shed work to continue, stay on tree cutting to remain: SC on Aarey

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Monday said that the construction of a Metro car shed c an c onti nue i n Mumbai’s Aarey Milk colony but no trees are to be cut.

During its hearing on Monday, the court clarified that there was no stay on construction. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta sought a status report with pictures on plantation, transplantation and felling of trees.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), told the court that no trees have been cut and status quo is being maintained as ordered by the SC in its last hearing.

In its last hearing in the case on October 7 , t he Supreme Court had ordered that status quo be maintained till the next date of hearing on cutting of t r e e s . The c o u r t h a d a l s o ordered immediate release of those detained for protesting against the cutting of trees.

The Aarey Milk colony is a 1,287 hectare area with around 500,000 trees abutting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the Mithi river.

Aarey is home to hundreds of species of birds and animals, and activists say the construction of a shed to repair and wash metro rakes may cause irreparable damage.

The Bombay HC, in a hearing held earlier this month, had upheld the BMC tree authority’s approval for cutting of trees. The HC had also refused to classify Aarey as a fores. Hours after the HC’S order, the Mumbai Metro corporation started felling trees.

The SC had set up a special bench and took suo motu cognisance of a letter written by law students.