Supreme Court: No tree felling for Metro work in Thane for 2 weeks

The court was hearing an appeal by Rohit Joshi, an environmental activist, challenging the HC’s November 25 order vacating the stay granted by it on September 20, while hearing a PIL filed by him. It contended that the HC order would pave the way for “destruction of trees for construction of Metro Line 4 project in Thane” and thereby render its petition infructuous.

The bench asked Advocate Pooja Dhar, who appeared for Joshi, whether the tree authority had sanctioned felling. Dhar replied in the affirmative but added that the public hearing was not properly carried out. The court said the petitioner should have challenged the authority’s order. The counsel requested authorities be restrained from cutting trees in the interim.