Aarey protest triggers outrage on social media

Mumbai, Oct 05: The mid-night drama north Mumbai's Aarey Colony has kicked up a social media storm with hundreds of people reaching opposing the hacking of trees.

In a setback to environmental activists, the Bombay High Court on Friday dismisses petitions challenging the proposed felling of over 2,600 trees in Aarey to make way for the metro car shed.

This is a major blow to the 'The Save Aarey movement' which opposes the car shed construction by chopping off over 2,600 trees.

On September 20, the Maharashtra government had told the court that Aarey cannot be declared as forest just because there is greenery there.

The Tree Authority had approved MMRCL's proposal to cut 2,185 trees and uproot and replant elsewhere another 461 trees.

Green activists are opposed to the felling of trees in Aarey Colony, which, together with Sanjay Gandhi National Park, is known as the green lung of the metropolis. MMRCL and the BMC have argued that metro is in larger public interest.

Several tweets slammed the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra as well as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over the issue.

A sad day today, tweets Priya Dutt

"A sad day today where so called development wins over quality of life and preservation of environment. The trees are already being chopped down in the dark of the night. This is murder of mother nature and we will all have to pay for it. God help Mumbai, tweets Priya Dutt.

'Lawfully wrong': Jignesh Mevani

Lathi Charge done for the first time at the peaceful protests for Aarey. People have been detained inside, gates have been closed and the authorities are abusing the protestors. Women have been pushed and detained by the police at this hour, which is lawfully wrong.

This will haunt us, says Yogendra Yadav

"At a time when effects of climate crisis are so chillingly visible, Maha Govt's insistence on felling Aarey trees & its refusal to look for other spaces for building metro parking shed is quite worrying. This myopia towards the future of Earth will come to haunt us," tweets Yogendra Yadav.

Cutting trees at night pathetic, says Farhan Akhtar

Cutting trees at night is a pathetic attempt at trying to get away with something even those doing it know is wrong.