The Aarey Forest has been making the headlines for the past few months, following an order that gave a green signal to the Mumbai Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) to cut down trees for building a car shed. 

Initially, the order allowed the MMRCL to cut down more than 3,000 trees, but after the protests led by the activists, the Supreme Court had to put a halt on the order. However, still, over 2,100 trees were cut down in the car shed construction area. 

According to India Today, around 1,800 trees were supposed to be transplanted, following an order by the Supreme Court. The trees were transplanted in Mumbai only, majorly, Aarey and Sanjay Gandhi National Park. 

The MMRCL had assured that during the transplantation drive, the trees will be properly taken care of and would be re-planted under proper surveillance. 

#MMRC has permanently saved 1089 trees from #Metro3 #CarShed plot from #AareyMilkColony while 2141 trees were felled as per #TreeAuthority order upheld by #BombayHC. 461 trees are to be transplanted subsequently. pic.twitter.com/Nah5UFI4td

India Today found out that the trees that were transplanted, were tagged with laminated paper and numbers. Some of the trees were in good condition and healthy, but many others were in extremely poor condition and were nearly dead. 

With many of the transplanted trees having dried out and many being dead, activists are claiming that the trees that have been re-planted are the trees that were dead in the first place. 

Zoru Bathena, part of the inspection committee of the trees said, “1,800 trees were transplanted from various locations in Mumbai where Metro 3 construction is going on. The trees were taken from the metro construction side and transplanted to various places in Mumbai. One such location is in Aarey.”

"When we did the last inspection, over 800 trees were already dead. Only stems can be seen. Over 50 per cent of the trees transplanted are dead. There is proper procedure which one has to follow while transplanting huge trees, which is not followed at all,” he said. 

Promises kept Commitments delivered. #MMRC has planted arnd 24,000 trees across Mumbai including #AareyMilkColony and degraded areas of #SGNP. Sturdy native species like Behada,Kadamb, Karanj etc 6 - 12 inch girth & 12-15 ft height planted. 2 years efforts and results show up. pic.twitter.com/bC4TOB5Qnp

He also added, “My major concern is that the trees we are talking about are for Metro 3 construction. However, more metro projects are going to be under development soon so an estimate of over 10,000 trees may die over these construction projects.”

Also, 38 people were arrested and over 50 people were detained by the police for protesting to save the Aarey colony. The protesters were later released as ordered by the Supreme Court.