On Wednesday, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court directed the state government to submit its response regarding the construction of a subway from Nagpur University road to Manas Square. Meanwhile, Maha Metro assured the court that construction activities would not begin until approval for tree felling is obtained from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). The ambitious underground road project plans to fell more than 100 trees.
Hearing the suo moto public interest litigation, a divi- sion bench consisting Justrict Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri expressed surprise at Maha Metro awarding the work order without obtaining permission for felling of trees. It questioned the con- fidence of the agency in getting permission from NMC to cut the trees and asked whether Maha Metro could assure the contractor that the permission would be granted.
Senior counsel adv. SK Mishra, representing Maha Metro assured the court that construction would not be started unless the tree committee grants permission to cut the trees on the proposed route of the subway. In the previous hearing the court had rebuked Maha Metro for installing barricades for the proposed construction and asked that they be removed.
The court also questioned the role of the police on the issue of traffic management and allowing erection of the barricades without caring to ascertain whether all permissions and sanctions had been granted for the project.