A huge controversy had erupted last year when the BJP-run Maharashtra government ordering the cuttings of trees in Aarey Colony, Mumbai. The decision was made to make space for a Metro car shed. Aarey Colony is a vast area of land which has many types of huge trees and many animals live in the area as well. The Maharashtra government declared that they will cut 2,700 trees. Environmental activists were very angry and there were major protests to protect the land. The BMC had then petitioned the Bombay High Court for permission to cut the trees. However, in October last year, the Bombay High Court refused their plea. However authorities then hurriedly cut trees in the dead of night.

The BJP lost the election in November. Then Shiv Sena partnered with the Congress and the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) to form the Maharashtra government. The new Sena-Congress-NCP government had then stopped the construction of the car shed on the land that had been cleared. Now Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday 11th October announced that the metro car shed project in Mumbai's Aarey will be relocated to Kanjurmarg. Thackeray said, “That the Aarey Colony has been declared a forest. It is an 800-acre jungle in the middle of Mumbai. It will be protected at all costs. There will be no escalation in costs due to the relocation since the government already owned the land in Kanjurmarg.” The building already constructed in Aarey will be used for another public purpose, Thackeray said. He also directed the withdrawal of all police cases filed against people who were arrested while protesting against the cutting down of trees in Aarey.

Tags

• Shiv
• Sena
• Aarey
• Colony
• BMC

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