Supreme Court Extends Its Interim Stay On Tree Felling At Mumbai’s Aarey Colony To Build Metro Railway Car Shed

The Supreme Court has extended its interim stay on the felling of trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony area for construction of a metro car shed.

A bench comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta said that the October 7 order in connection with the interim stay on the felling of trees will continue until the next hearing on the matter in January 2020.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing one of the petitioners, informed the Supreme Court that the new state government in Maharashtra is exploring a different site for the purpose of metro shed. The bench replied that it is not influenced by such things.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court bench the Maharashtra state government is yet to file a reply on whether Aarey Colony is forest land or not.

However, the Supreme Court responded that the lawyer should take instruction and place the matter on record before it.

On October 21, the Supreme Court had stated that there is no stay on construction of the Mumbai Metro car shed at Aarey Colony and clarified that its order is “no felling of trees”.

The authorities concerned informed the Supreme Court that felling of trees would not occur at the site and complete status quo would be maintained. The Supreme Court had asked for pictures of afforestation, transplantation, and tree felling carried out so far at the site.

During the hearing, a lawyer raised a query about the report in connection with trees cut, afforestation and trans-plantation carried out in lieu of felling of trees at the site. The lawyer for Mumbai metro stated that everything has been filed.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Metro has claimed that after tree felling, it has transplanted more than 5,000 trees and assured the Supreme Court that as per its interim order, complete status quo is being