I got a call around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday informing me about trees being cut in Churchgate. I rushed to the spot and spoke to the L&T engineer at the site. I asked him if he had permission to cut the trees, but he refused to speak.
Soon a few people claiming to be L&T workers and BMC contractors began axing the trees. When I began recording the act on my mobile, they intimidated me. Four of them started videographing me and spoke on behalf of the L&T engineer.
I called out for help and 78 people, including Nina Verma (76) who filed the petition in the Supreme Court, assembled. We headed to Marine Drive Police Station to file a complaint. It took one and a half hours to convince the police that axing trees was in violation of the apex court’s orders. We also pointed out that a High Court order had set restrictions on carrying out such work beyond a certain time in the evening. We waited for a senior inspector to arrive and went to the spot where the trees were being cut.
We asked the workers to stop cutting the trees. They claimed they were done for the day and were just cleaning up. But they continued to work their power saws late into the night till 1 a.m. When the police left and we began to disperse, they started work again.
I returned home at about 2 a.m. and thought they would stop work in a while. When they did not, I dialled 100. I convinced the Marine Drive police that work had to stop as senior citizens lived in the area. I told them the work posed a health hazard, and they would have to take responsibility for putting people’s lives at risk. Work finally stopped at 3 a.m.
The writer is a resident of J. Tata Road in Churchgate
(As told to Veydaant Khanna)
