While Uddhav Thackeray has halted the Mumbai Metro project to save Aarey trees, 1,000 trees in Aurangabad will be cut for Bal Thackeray memorial
Mumbai: Maharashtra's Shiv Sena seems to have taken a U-turn on their Aarey concerns as Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, which Sena controls, wants to now cut down 1,000 trees for a Bal Thackeray memorial in Priyadarshini Park.
Earlier, Shiv Sena had been a strong advocate of eco-conservation when they halted the metro project at Aarey on ‘concerns’ that trees are being cut.
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), which is governed by the Shiv Sena is all set to cut down over 1,000 trees for a memorial of the party’s founder, the late Bal Thackeray, according to the Mumbai Mirror. It is also reported that this decision of the AMC comes after Shiv Sena Chief and newly elected CM Uddhav Thackeray had stopped work on a Metro car shed at Aarey Colony.
According to environmental activists, the Priyadarshini Park is home to 70 species of trees, 40 species of butterflies and various reptiles and small mammals.
But Sena which has been running the AMC for the past 25 years now wants to build a memorial for Bal Thackeray by felling thousands of trees at Priyadarshini Park. The memorial will also have an amphitheatre, a museum and a food court. It will be built at a whopping cost of Rs 61 crore.
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