Mumbai, 9 December: The Bombay High Court on Friday gave permission to cut 21,997 mangrove trees coming in the way of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, removing all the bottlenecks of this project.
Mangrove trees in Mumbai, Palghar and Thane districts were a hindrance to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. A petition was filed in the High Court by the Bombay Environmental Action Group demanding that these trees not be cut. The petition stated that the cutting of 53,467 mangrove trees in Mumbai, Palghar and Thane is going to harm the environment.
The case was heard before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Abhay Ahuja. Permission to cut these trees was sought from the High Court on behalf of the National High Speed Railway Corporation Limited (NHSRCL). The bench had asked to reduce the number of mangrove trees. After this, NHSRCL’s counsel Prahlad Paranjpe and Manish Kelkar told the High Court that the number of mangroves to be cut has now been reduced from 53,467 to 21,997. Along with this, he has requested that his demand should be accepted. NHSRCL told the court that it has also taken up the task of planting trees five times the number of mangroves being cut.
Thereafter, the Bench had reserved the decision of the matter. The High Court on Friday allowed the felling of 21,997 mangrove trees obstructing the way of the bullet train. After the permission of the High Court, this scheme of ?1.1 lakh crore is going to gain momentum. The project has received all other necessary permissions.
