Only hours following the Bombay High Court judgment dismissing all petitions for the downing of over 2,500 trees for a Mumbai metro station, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), late on Friday night, began cutting trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony.
Tree cutting took place in the midst of massive protests by activists who reported that 300 of the more than 2,600 trees had been felled by the end of the day. Many protesters were also arrested following a demonstration outside the Aarey colony Metro car depot in East Goregaon.
In an attempt to stop the BMC authorities from cutting down the trees the protest continued during the wee hours of Saturday. At least 26 protesters were detained at Dahisar Police Station, according to The Indian Express.
As hundreds of people gathered in Goregaon to prevent the hacking of trees the location is heavily deployed with police. The protesters assembled at the scene questioning why the authorities couldn't wait until the matter could be appealed to the Supreme Court. "It is painful to see that the trees that give life to other people are being cut off. Cutting of the trees is happening when the government itself is encouraging people to plant more trees," said a protester.