On Saturday, several Twitter users took umbrage to Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s tweets on Aarey, pointing out that in the past, the party used to bring the city to a halt.
Thackeray had written on Twitter: “The vigour with which the @MumbaiMetro3is slyly and swiftly cutting down an ecosystem in Aarey is shameful and disgusting. How about posting these officials in PoK, giving them charge to destroy terror camps rather than trees? Many environmentalists and even many local Shiv Sena members from the vicinity have tried stopping this. More so the increased police presence and the way this deforestation is happening, @MumbaiMetro3 is destroying everything India said at the UN @UNEnvironment @UN.”
He added: “There’s no point for the Central government ministry of climate change to exist, or to speak about plastic pollution when the @MumbaiMetro3 senselessly destroys the Aarey vicinity. This ego battle taken up by Metro 3 is destroying the purpose of making it.”The irony, where Sena and BJP are contesting the Maha elections together, and are in power at the BMC wasn’t lost on Twitterati.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shiv Sena goons can bring Mumbai to a halt with one call to strike. They can stop a silly film release by rioting and attacking filmmakers & cinema halls.<br><br>But it can't protest to save a crucial <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AareyForest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AareyForest</a>? And SS runs BMC, is part of Maharashtra & Union govt, you hypocrite !! <a href="https://t.co/NvEIxJOQ5R">https://t.co/NvEIxJOQ5R</a></p>— Chirpy Says (@IndianPrism) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianPrism/status/1180196745826861056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yesterday you blocked the whole main road during your nomination rally and troubled many commoners who were going to the office by that road. You can and will never understand a common man's plight. <a href="https://t.co/qeZIP94JlA">https://t.co/qeZIP94JlA</a></p>— Sir Yuzvendra (parody) (@SirYuzvendra) <a href="https://twitter.com/SirYuzvendra/status/1180185087368781824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Protests continued during the wee hours of Saturday as authorities began cutting down trees at Mumbai's Aarey Colony for a metro car shed, merely hours after the Bombay High Court dismissed all petitions against the move."What is the hurry that they are cutting down trees in the middle of the night," one of the protestors said.
Protestors gathered at the spot asking why can't the authorities wait until a petition can be filed in the Supreme Court regarding the matter.
"It is saddening to see that the trees which provide life to others are being cut. This is happening when the government itself is urging people to plant more trees," another protester, Albert Michel said.The site also has heavy police deployment as hundreds of people have gathered in the area to stop trees from being hacked.
The Bombay High Court had, on Friday, dismissed all petitions against the proposed cutting down of over 2,500 trees in Aarey Colony of Mumbai to make way for a Metro car shed and refused to declare the colony as a forest.
Scores of locals including environmental activists have been opposing the cutting of trees for the construction of the car shed of the metro station. They are demanding the relocation of the bus depot, which is a part of the Metro III project.
Several B-town actors and political leaders have also extended their support to activists by participating in the protests against the cutting of trees.Meanwhile, actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar had supported the Metro project.
