Tree Authority Shall Not Allow Felling Trees In Aarey Forest Without Our Permission: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today passed an interim Order prohibiting the Tree Authority of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation from granting permission to fell trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony without the leave of the Supreme Court.
The Court was hearing a suo moto petition regarding denotification of forest land and cutting of trees in the Aarey colony of Mumbai for the construction of a metro car shed.
Fixing March 5 as the date for hearing the matter at length, a two-Judge Bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar, in the interim, ordered, "The Tree Authority of Mumbai Municipal Corporation will not grant permission for felling of trees within the Aarey colony area without the leave of this Court. The tree authority may process the application and thereafter apply for leave."
The Tree Authority is a statutory body constituted under the Tree Authority Act, 1996 for regulating the felling of trees and to provide for planting of adequate number of new trees.
On the last date of hearing, December 20, 2024, the Court had directed the Maharashtra government to state whether there was any proposal to fell more trees in the Aarey colony.
The Court was informed today by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), which is a joint venture of the Government of India and Maharashtra, that there is no pending proposal by it to fell more trees.
The felling of trees in the Aarey colony has been opposed by environmental activists. In November 2022, the Court noted that 2,144 trees were felled in executing the work pertaining to car depot, while 212 trees were felled in connection with the work of the ramp connecting to the metro shed.
Through its November 29, 2023 Judgment, the Court had modified an earlier status quo Order on the felling of trees, permitting the MMRCL to move the Tree Authority with an application for felling 84 trees for the construction of the ramp.
In April 2023, the Supreme Court had imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on MMRCL for seeking to cut trees in excess of 84 trees, in violation of the Court's Judgment. "If circumstances had transpired which led to a variation in the number of trees to be cut, the only correct course of action would have been to move this Court" the Court said. It, however, allowed the MMRCL to remove 177 trees from the Aarey forest to construct the metro shed, which the Tree Authority had earlier approved.
Cause Title: In Re Felling Of Trees In Aarey Forest (Maharashtra) [SMW(C) No. 2/2019]
