New Delhi: The Bombay High Court Friday rejected four petitions against the felling of over 2,600 trees that were seen as an obstruction to the construction of a car shed for the upcoming Mumbai Metro.
Among other things, the court noted that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited had planted seven times the number of trees to be felled, and pointed to the gains expected from the suburban rail project.
“The aforesaid carbon di-oxide sequestration of 2,702 trees for their entire lifetime calculated at 12,79,062 kg would be compensated in 3948 fully loaded trips of Metro trains operating,” the court said.
It also fined one of the petitioners, Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant K. Jadhav, Rs 50,000 for his petition, which the court called an exercise in “sheer voyagerism”.
It accused him of making a false statement, adding, “The pleadings being on oath made before a court in judicial proceedings would attract the offence of perjury, but we leave it at that with the hope and belief that representatives of the citizens of this country would discharge their duties faithfully and honestly and not play partisan games in a court of law.”
Here is the full judgment:
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