Twitterati have let their artillery loose on Bollywood celebrities who have plastered their dissent in under 280 characters over the government decision to fell 2656 trees in Aarey Colony for the construction of a metro shed.
The petitions by activists against the deforestation were rejected twice by the Bombay High Court which ruled that the Tree Authority's decision to allow it was fair and within reason. According to PTI, the MMRCL (Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) who has been cutting down the trees since Friday 'clarified' that it was restricted to only a small area in the colony and that the metro connectivity is a necessity for Mumbaikars.
MMRCL's metro shed will occupy 61 acres, and the Metro-3 corridor running along the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz, according to its website, "will reduce CO2 emission to the tune of 10,000 Metric ton per year."
As soon as the Bombay HC refused to stay the environment destruction, Bollywood, who most times, tend to vigorously separate politics from their personal lives, lashed out. The same Bollywood that according to Times of India thrives in the 520 acres of Aarey Colony's Film City, which by the way is getting a revamp with extra 280 acres (50 acres of which is in the no-development zone).
Bollywood icon Karan Johar calls it, "Massacre is what this is! We are our own worst enemy! Infrastructure can never precede nature! We need to STOP! #SaveAarey".
You can read more of what Bollywood has to say here.
But the public on the social media platform isn't very thrilled about their apparent double standards.
Seems like Bollywood needs to do much more than a 280-character shoutout to save Aarey.
Tensions have been on the rise in Mumbai as 60 people got detained, and up to 38 were booked under various sections of IPC for protesting the felling of trees at Aarey Colony, PTI reported.