The felling of trees at Aarey forest was meant to be the highlight of a climate march in the city on Sunday, however, the police censored not just the subject and maintained their intimidating presence on the site to ensure the participants are adhering to their order. A group of climate activists, which organised the Extinction Rebellion (XR) — socio-political movement started last year to highlight the adverse climate change — at Bandra-Worli sea link promenade, were in for a rude shock when they reached the spot on Sunday. The cops said we cannot speak about Aarey at the event and they even shifted our venue to a parking lot, said an activist. The last-minute changes were made even though the organisers had taken prior permission.

The censorship reduced the event to a merely 20-minute affair and the participants were not only disappointed but were left intimidated by the police presence at the peaceful protest. An activist even claimed that the cops prevented several people from joining the protest saying Section 144 has been imposed in the area.