“The greens (environmentalists) have failed,” the
Bombay High Court said on Friday, while refusing to declare Aarey Colony a
forest and declining to quash the BMC tree authority’s decision allowing
felling of over 2,600 trees in the green zone to set up a metro carshed.
The court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav,
who opposed the approval given by the BMC tree authority, of which he is a
member, for hacking trees in the green belt.
A division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre
dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and environmental activists on issues
related to Aarey Colony in Goregaon, a major green lung of the metropolis.
The court termed all the petitioners as “Davids” taking on the
industrial “Goliaths”, apparently suggesting that they were fighting
an unequal battle.
One of the pleas moved by city-based NGO Vanshakti had sought that Aarey Colony
be declared a forest and an ecologically sensitive zone, while another petition
filed by green activist Zoru Bathena had pleaded that the area be given the
status of a floodplain.
Two separate petitions were filed by Bathena and Jadhav, challenging the
decision of the BMC tree authority permitting the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation
Ltd (MMRCL) to cut 2,656 trees to construct a metro carshed in Aarey Colony.
Dismissing the petition filed by Vanshakti, the court, in its judgment, noted
that the issue was already decided by an earlier bench of the high court and
the matter was presently pending before the Supreme Court.
“The greens (environmentalists) fail in the instant petition because they
have lost touch with the procedure to be followed as per law. The clock cannot
be put back. We do not make any comments thereon as the petitioner has to now
swim or sink before the Supreme Court,” the court said.
Dismissing the petitions filed by Bathena and Jadhav, the bench said the greens
had failed on merit.
“The tree authority’s decision-making process was fair, transparent and
based on reason. The greens fail not on account of sailing their boats in the
wrong channel but on merits,” the court said.
The bench imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Jadhav.
“It (Jadhav’s plea) is sans any material and bereft of concise statements
and details concerning the meeting of the tree authority held on August 29,
2019,” the court said.
It noted that there was no variation in the opinion of the members of the tree
authority on whether the trees could be transplanted or had to be cut.
“There are good reasons for taking the view that the trees would not
survive if transplanted and that it would be futile to spend good money to
transplant the trees, which ultimately would by and large die,” the bench
said.
The court also took note of the submission made by MMRCL counsel Ashutosh
Kumbhakoni that the authority had already planted 20,900 trees in the Sanjay
Gandhi National Park.
“This establishes that about seven times the number of trees to be felled
have been replaced by planting of saplings,” the court said.
It termed all the petitioners as “Davids” taking on the industrial
“Goliaths”.
“Relationship with nature and love for environment alone is true and all
other relationships are unreal and temporary, is their (environmentalists’)
belief. Their hearts are a temple of devotion to flora and fauna,” the
court said.
“In the instant case, the Davids (environmentalists) row their boat with
faith, courage and devotion in the storm of development but
directionless,” the bench said in its judgment, dismissing the plea filed
by Vanshakti.
It also refused to accept the contentions raised by Bathena and Jadhav in their
pleas that the tree authority had granted approval in haste and without
considering opposing views.
“We highlight that the deliberation by the tree authority members was not
only at the meeting held on August 29, 2019. They had discussed the issue at
site visits held on August 10 and 20, 2019. What was discussed at the site has
been neatly presented as a bonsai in the report prepared by the tree officers,”
the court said.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had given the tree-hacking
approval on August 29, triggering protests by green activists and common
citizens, who had launched a “Save Aarey” campaign.
Vanshakti, in its plea, had said Aarey Colony, measuring 1,287 hectares, had
several exotic flora and fauna.
On the Vanshakti petition, the court said, “The remedy is before the
Supreme Court or the National Green Tribunal. We have applied the principle of
commonality and not decided on merit.”
The Maharashtra government had claimed that Aarey Colony could not be termed a
forest and that the issue was already decided by another high court bench.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the state earlier, had said
an appeal against the high court order refusing to declare Aarey a forest was
currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Bathena, in his plea, had challenged the decision taken by the tree authority
granting permission to fell trees.
The proposed carshed, part of the metro-3 project, will occupy 33 hectares in
the southern part of Aarey Colony.
The authority has approved felling of 2,185 trees and transplanting (uprooting
from the original spot and replanting them at an alternate spot) 461 trees from
the area.
The authority’s approval is mandatory for felling more than 20 trees at a time
at any place in the city.
Source: PTI