Days after mid-day highlighted the concerns of Mira Road residents about the proposed expansion of a sewage treatment plant (STP), which would necessitate the removal of 1208 trees from a garden on Kanakia Road, local MLA and Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik stepped in, asking Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) officials to seek out a new location for the STP, away from the residential area. All barricades set up at the open space have also been removed.

Sarnaik also spoke with MBMC chief Sanjay Katkar over the phone, asking him to direct his officials to halt the plan. “I visited the Kanakia-based garden on Tuesday evening where residents have been raising serious concerns about the municipal corporation’s decision to remove hundreds of trees for an STP. I lent my ears to the people and immediately instructed Municipal Commissioner [Sanjay] Katkar to stop the work and explore a new location away from the residential area,” Sarnaik told mid-day.