Emphasing on the need for protecting the environment, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday trees should be cut only when the development of a project gets stuck.

He also said that a person should be made to plant 10 trees for every tree cut by him or her. His remarks came at a time when environmentalists are opposing the proposed chopping of over 2,600 trees in the suburban Aarey area in Mumbai to make way for a Metro car shed. Several Bollywood personalities and politicians have been extending their support to citizens opposing the axing of a large number of trees in a sprawling green belt in the city.