Tree Authority will have experts soon, BMC tells Bombay high court
Rosy Sequeira | TNN | Updated: Feb 15, 2019, 04:15 IST
Bombay high court (File Photo)MUMBAI: BMC on Thursday told Bombay high court it will invite applications from the public to nominate independent experts on the Tree Authority (TA).
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation had moved HC stating work on the car depot at Aarey for the Colaba-Andheri SEEPZ Metro line 3 had come to a halt as its application to cut trees was pending with the Tree Authority, which couldn't function due to lack of experts.
MMRC urged the bench of chief justice Naresh Patil and justice Nitin Jamdar to direct the BMC to expedite its proposal of July 21, 2017 to remove 2,702 trees in Parjapur village.
On October 24, 2018, the HC had restrained the TA from taking any decision on the application to fell trees until it had independent experts as nominated members. Till then, the court had said, the municipal commissioner would tackle emergent situations. This order was made on activist Zoru Bhathena's plea that the Tree Authority for Mumbai comprises 13 municipal councillors and not a single expert.
MMRC's application said till date no progress had been made on appointing experts. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni with advocate Akshay Shinde for MMRC said this had affected work on the car depot.
Senior advocate Anil Sakhare for BMC said it would publish an advertisement on Friday inviting applications. He said the deadline to send applications would be February 26 and experts would be selected soon. Sakhare said the first meeting of the TA would be held in the first week of March and MMRC's application would be taken up then. The court has sought an update on March 7.
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation had moved HC stating work on the car depot at Aarey for the Colaba-Andheri SEEPZ Metro line 3 had come to a halt as its application to cut trees was pending with the Tree Authority, which couldn't function due to lack of experts.
MMRC urged the bench of chief justice Naresh Patil and justice Nitin Jamdar to direct the BMC to expedite its proposal of July 21, 2017 to remove 2,702 trees in Parjapur village.
On October 24, 2018, the HC had restrained the TA from taking any decision on the application to fell trees until it had independent experts as nominated members. Till then, the court had said, the municipal commissioner would tackle emergent situations. This order was made on activist Zoru Bhathena's plea that the Tree Authority for Mumbai comprises 13 municipal councillors and not a single expert.
MMRC's application said till date no progress had been made on appointing experts. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni with advocate Akshay Shinde for MMRC said this had affected work on the car depot.
Senior advocate Anil Sakhare for BMC said it would publish an advertisement on Friday inviting applications. He said the deadline to send applications would be February 26 and experts would be selected soon. Sakhare said the first meeting of the TA would be held in the first week of March and MMRC's application would be taken up then. The court has sought an update on March 7.
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