Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday formed a two-judge committee to hear citizens’ grievances against the Mumbai Metro 3 project. Residents have been complaining of illegal, indiscriminate felling of trees for the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro corridor.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar appointed Justices S.S. Kemkar and B.R. Gavai to address the complaints. The committee was formed only following Supreme Court directions to this effect.
Senior counsel Anil Sakhare, appearing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, told the court that a committee had visited the tree-cutting sites, and would submit a report after inspecting them.
ADVERTISEMENT
On May 5, the court had said, “It cannot be overlooked that a project as important as this cannot be undertaken without some damage to the environment in terms of felling of trees,” and vacated its own stay on cutting of over 5,000 trees.
The court had also appointed the member secretary of the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority and Deputy Registrar to oversee the compliance in regard to the re-plantation and transplantation of the trees, and directed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited to file an undertaking within one week.
Previously, Nitin Kumar, site engineer, Larsen and Toubro, told
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The residents have contended that more trees are being cut than required and the assessment of Metro authorities that 5,099 trees in the city are required to be cut is contrary to the Environment Impact Assessment report of the RITES, which said that only 1,745 trees would be required to be cut or transplanted.
The assessment of the authorities that 5,099 trees are required to be cut is not backed up by any other authority, they said.
South Mumbai residents had staged protests, candlelight vigils and even carried out a symbolic funeral processions for the trees felled at Churchgate.