India's Supreme Court on Monday ordered authorities in Mumbai to refrain from cutting down trees to make way for a train parking shed for an ambitious subway project that has sparked protests.
"We direct the Maharashtra Government not to cut any more trees in Aarey," Justice Arun Mishra, who headed a two-man bench, said.
He told Maharashtra state to maintain the status quo until the next hearing on October 21.
Activists, Bollywood stars and some politicians have opposed cutting down some 2,700 trees in Mumbai's few forested areas, saying it would exacerbate pollution levels.
Authorities counter that there is no other viable location for the shed in the crowded city of some 20 million.
Proponents also say the metro will be far more beneficial to the environment than the trees. They said the project's Line 3, which was expected to open in December 2021, could now be delayed due to the opposition.
It was not immediately clear how many trees had already been cut down on Friday. Police detained dozens of activists trying to protect the trees.
The Indian Express newspaper, citing senior officials, reported that 2,134 trees had already been cut down. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corp Ltd did not immediately respond to a request for information.
The controversy over the trees has become a political issue in Maharashtra, which is holding state elections on October 21.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's local ally, the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party, has criticised the decision to cut the trees.
The Mumbai Metro 3 is a 35-kilometre project that will carry about 170,000 people a day between the city's business districts and far-flung suburbs.
An average of ten people, mostly poor, now die every day on Mumbai's overcrowded trains, the government said.
