Lucknow: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday backed felling of trees at Aarey Colony in north Mumbai, saying as per the High Court ruling it is "not a forest area".
"The greens (environmentalists) have failed," the Bombay High Court said on Friday while refusing to declare Aarey colony a forest and also declining to quash the BMC tree authority's decision allowing felling of over 2,600 trees in the green zone to set up a metro carshed.
"The High Court has ruled yesterday that it is not a forest. You can't fell anything that is forest," he said at a press conference here, stating that people had also protested felling of trees for Delhi Metro.
"There was a need to fell 20 to 25 trees for setting up the first metro station in Delhi and then also people had similarly opposed it. But for each tree that was cut five saplings were planted," he said.
Javadekar said the forest cover in the national capital has increased since then and public transport system has also improved.