Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday refused to comment on the Supreme Court order stopping the felling of trees at Mumbai’s Aarey Colony till the next date of hearing on October 21.
“Supreme Court has given a decision on it, so I will not comment on the matter,” ANI quoted Javadekar as saying.
The Supreme Court’s order came on a bunch of petitions challenging the felling of trees to build a car shed for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).
Last week, Javadekar had backed the decision to cut trees in Aarey Colony for the construction of the metro car shed and said the development and environment protection needed to go together while citing the example of the Delhi Metro.
The MMRC had started chopping trees at Aarey Colony late Friday after the Bombay high court dismissed all petitions challenging the felling of 2,464 trees to make way for the car shed.
Twenty nine activists and protesters were arrested for opposing the tree felling and clashing with the police. On Sunday, a local court in Mumbai ordered their release on bail.
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on Monday, the MMRC had stopped work at Aarey Colony Sunday evening after more than 1800 trees had been cut, sources said.
