The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday gave an oral direction not to cut down 181 trees in the Ajni area for the Inter Model Station project till further orders. Court also asked to submit reply to NMC, RLDA and Contractor within two weeks.
Swachh Association has filed a Public Interest Litigation for the protection of Ajni Forest. It was heard before Justice Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri. The first phase of Ajni Inter Model Station project is to be developed on 54 acres of land. On April 25, 2023, the High Court has given an interim order that trees should not be cut in the forest without the permission of the NMC. Contractor Keystone has submitted an application to the NMC seeking permission to cut 181 trees in the Ajni forest.
The NMC had published notices in two newspapers of the city on March 1 seeking objections from the citizens on Keystone’s application. Swachh Association strongly opposed Keystone’s application and approch to the Court.