Mumbai / Men cutting Aarey trees should destroy terror camps instead: Aaditya

Shiv Sena youth leader Aaditya Thackeray took to Twitter to back activists protesting the cutting of trees at Mumbai’s Aarey Colony where the metro rail plans to build a car shed even as protests continued to rage.

In a tweet, Thackeray said it was a “shame” that the trees had to be hacked “in the cover of the night” after authorities began cutting down trees late Friday night amid following the Bombay High Court dismissing all petitions against the move.

Activists alleged that over 200 trees had been cut Friday night.

In another tweet he said the exercise was shameful and disgusting and suggested that officials responsible for cutting down the trees should be sent to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to destroy terror camps.

Protests continued early Saturday with protesters questioning the tearing hurry of authorities and asking why they could not wait until a petition can be filed in the Supreme Court regarding the matter.

“What is the hurry that they are cutting down trees in the middle of the night,” one of the protestors said according to ANI.

“It is saddening to see that the trees which provide life to others are being cut. This is happening when the government itself is urging people to plant more trees,” ANI quoted another protester, Albert Michel as saying.

Authorities have deployed a large police force as hundreds of people gathered in the area to stop over 2500 trees from being hacked. On Friday morning, a division bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre of teh Bombay High Court dismissed petitions by activist Zoru Bhathena and Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav, who is also a member of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority. The court also refused to declare the colony as a forest.

Late Friday night environmentalists and residents stormed the site after 200 trees had been felled, causing Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation workers to flee.

The police stepped in and detained a few protesters after activists broke barricades to stop authorities from cutting trees at Picnic Point in Aarey Colony.