“Not A Single Leaf Of Aarey Will Be Cut, ” CM Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: A day after taking oath as Maharashtra chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said the new government has stayed work on the Aarey car shed work and no trees will be felled until further notice.

“I have ordered to stop the work of the Aarey metro car shed project today. The Metro work will not stop but till the next decision, not a single leaf of Aarey will be cut,” Thackeray said.

Thackeray said he could be the first Maharashtra Chief Minister who was born in Mumbai. “It is going on in my mind, what I can do for the city,” the Chief Minister said. Earlier in October Thackeray protested against the decision of making metro car shed in Aarey forest.

Mumbai witnessed major protests by environmentalists and social activists against the felling of over 2,500 trees in the city’s Aarey colony to construct a proposed car shed for the Mumbai Metro Rail project.

The Bombay High Court had on October 4 given a green light to the project, refusing to declare Aarey Colony as a forest and also declining to quash the Mumbai municipal corporation’s decision to cut the trees in the area.

The Supreme Court had on September 10 had stayed felling of trees and asked the government to release the detained student activists.

Reacting to the development, Aaditya Thackeray said, “All the people of Mumbai are happy with this decision. Development works will continue but the harm that was being done to the environment will be stopped.”

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.