Aarey protests: Many are complaining to stop cutting of trees, section 144 imposed in Aarey colony

After the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed petitions opposing tree-felling in Aarey Colony in north Mumbai, a prime green lung of the city, for Metro work, activists alleged that authorities were cutting trees. Activists claimed that over 200 had been cut by Friday night.

Activists alleged of over 2,600 trees which are to be downed in Aarey Colony in Mumbai, 200 had been cut by Friday night. The site of the proposed car shed saw heavy police deployment as hundreds of people found to stop trees from being cut.

Many tweets whipped the Devendra Fadnavis government as well as the BMC over the problem. More reactions are pouring in and protest is likely to increase.

Section 144 of CrPC (banning unlawful assembly) imposed in Aarey Colony, surrounding areas following protests over cutting of trees, says the police.

Over 20 people have been arrested by cops so far. They will be produced in court today. FIR has been registered by Mumbai Police in the matter. The cops have registered the case under IPC section 353 (assault or criminal force to prevent a public servant from discharging duty) and many others.

It will take around three to four days for the felling of all 2,600 trees, references say. This will likely begin to more problems for locals in the area, where roads have been blocked.

Authorizations say so far over 800 trees have been chopped in Aarey Colony in Mumbai for the proposed metro project. Many more machines have also been taken to cut down trees, they said. A Mumbai fire brigade team is also present at the location, reports India Today’s Saurabh Vaktania from Mumbai.

Several layers of barricading have been put in place by Mumbai Police. No one is being permitted inside the area. Locals are also facing a lot of problems.

All roads leading to the Aarey car shed location have been blocked by the cops. No one is being allowed inside the radius of around 3 km. Over 100 people have been arrested and taken to different police stations. Even the media is not being allowed inside.

As the BMC started cutting trees, Preeti Sharma Menon, spokesperson of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), claimed that it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which has been in place since the Election Commission announced assembly election dates in Maharashtra.

Some of the tweets from well-known personalities:
Priyanka Chaturvedi states she was forcibly evicted by cops, wasn’t breaking the law

I have been forcibly evicted by the cops and I wasn’t even breaking the law! The cops in the car wont even tell me where I am being taken … this is insane @MumbaiPolice

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) October 5, 2019

Some of the images shared by ANI, Entry into Aarey from Marol Maroshi Road restricted after Section 144 imposed

Mumbai: Entry into #Aarey from Marol Maroshi Road restricted after Section 144 has been imposed in the area. #AareyForest pic.twitter.com/4sAaqbjLOX

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2019

Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha slams Aaditya Thackeray states he’s shedding crocodile tears for Aarey

Dear @AUThackeray : Who runs the BMC? You !!!! The Shiv Sena AND the BJP.

And you have the temerity to shed crocodile tears for #AareyForest ? Seriously? https://t.co/yMkSlPZz2P

— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) October 5, 2019

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza tweets

400 trees have been cut in the dead of the night. As citizens sang and joined hands in unity pleading to STOP this massacre. Can’t you see they are UNITED by love!?! Love for nature. Love for our children and our future. #Aarey #ClimateAction #ActNow #ChangeIsComing pic.twitter.com/7XCwSeaqDT

— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) October 5, 2019

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