Supreme court issues ban on felling in suburb of Aarey amid growing protests A mass felling of trees in one of the world's most-polluted megacities has been halted by India's top court, amid protests that their removal would strip Mumbai of a precious "green lung". Some 2,700 trees were to be cut down in India's financial capital to make way for a depot for subway carriages in the city of nearly 20 million people.