Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday permitted the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) to cut 108 mangroves to make way for the construction of the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) station as part of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro III line. Recently, the HC had allowed trees to be cut in south Mumbai for the same project.
A Division Bench comprising Justices V.M. Kanade and M.S. Sonak allowed an application by MMRCL seeking permission to cut the mangroves in BKC. The permission was required as the HC had mandated that its permission was a must for any action involving mangroves while hearing a PIL filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group. The PIL said cutting mangroves is in violation of the law and MMRCL did not have requisite permissions from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The MMRCL submitted an undertaking that all permissions were taken and that it would plant mature trees in the area after the work got over. The undertaking said Mumbai Metro would look after the trees for the next three years. A similar undertaking was submitted by MMRCL on May 5 to another HC Division Bench after trees were allowed to be cut and transplanted.
The court was informed that while MMRCL had ensured mangroves won’t be felled, authorities modified the sanction and allowed the cutting of mangroves. However, the court said MMRCL should have been careful during the planning stage to ensure mangroves don’t get cut.
Over 5,000 trees are proposed to be cut across south Mumbai for the project.
