Can Anything Stop the Cutting of 800 Trees in Aarey Colony?

The 15-day notice argument by activists is unlikely to succeed, but an appeal to the Supreme Court could still work.

On 4 October, the Bombay High Court delivered its judgments on a number of petitions that concerned the felling and transplanting of over 800 trees in Aarey Colony, Mumbai.

Within hours of the judgments, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), who had applied to cut these trees down to construct a metro car shed, moved in to begin cutting down the trees. Activists and protestors rushed to the scene, and tensions have continued to mount, with several of them being detained and arrested by the police.

But has the MMRCL broken the law in pressing to cut the trees so soon?