HC refuses stay on cutting of trees in Aarey Colony

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Saturday refused to grant stay on cutting of trees in Mumbai’s prominent green lung, Aarey Colony, to make way for a metro car shed.

A few green activists moved a fresh application on Saturday seeking stay on the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL’s) action of chopping 2656 trees in the area, a day after the HC dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision of Tree Authority of the Mumbai civic body allowing felling of trees.

The action of MMRCL, which began cutting trees late Friday night, has met up with stiff resistance from green activists who have been protesting at the Aarey Colony.

The activists, in their application, sought stay on the MMRCL action for a week so that they could approach the Supreme Court against the high court’s order.

The application was taken up for urgent hearing by Justices S C Dharmadhikari and A K Menon.

After brief arguments, the bench refused to grant the stay and disposed of their application.