After months of mounting pressure from environmental activists and citizens, the BMC yesterday rejected the proposal to cut down 2,298 trees in Aarey Colony that were to make space for the car shed of the Metro line III (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz corridor). In fact, each and every member of the Tree Authority — across all political parties — unanimously rejected the plan, asking for a more detailed presentation on how the authorities plan to compensate for the trees that will be removed.

Aarey Colony’s green cover is already at risk, with the BMC planning to cut nearly 1,000 trees to make way for the four-lane Goregaon-Mulund Link Road. File pic

Not only did they demand more information on this, the members also demanded to visit the site themselves, since they feared that the MMRDA would not replant trees properly as was witnessed in the case of Metro line I (Versova-Ghatkopar).

According to Nandu Vichare, a member of the Tree Authority, during the construction of Metro line I, the MMRDA had promised that they were going to replant trees which were cut down, but there is no information about any such replantation.