Former Environment Minister of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led state government for chopping down a 300-year-old tree in Mumbai.
Thackeray shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) alleging that the 300-year-old tree has been cut in Santacruz West for “devil-opment” along with a picture of the Baobab tree. He termed the ruling party as an “anti Mumbai party” and claimed that there was no need to cut the tree.
“This is what happens when an anti Mumbai party takes over the regime. As minister for environment, I had made the @MMRDAOfficial save this tree, and the other trees also. There was no need to cut this Baobab,” Thackeray said in a post.
He promised “strongest possible punishment” for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority in-charge who cut the tree, once the Sena UBT forms a government in Maharashtra again.
“Take my word, the MMRDA incharge who cut this tree, will face the strongest possible punishment when we form government again. They cannot ruin my Mumbai,” the post further read.
The tree was allegedly cut down for the development of Mumbai Metro 2B’s Santacruz Station. Approved last year in September, the metro route is set to expand from Mandale to Cheetah Camp, a densely populated area that currently lacks metro connectivity.
The Metro Line 2B project, originally approved in 2016, connects DN Nagar to Mandale, covering several key areas. The Metro Line 2B corridor, including the extension, is set to be completed by December this year.
Earlier this year, it was reported that thousands of trees will be cut between Chembur and Raigad districts for laying 43 km of pipelines of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). The cutting of more than 10,582 mangroves and 1,095 other trees has been permitted so that BPCL’s goal to reduce its ‘carbon footprints’ is achieved.
