The city’s challenge to strike a balance between development and environment goes on with an environmental row erupting in Kharghar’s Sector 34B. The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has granted permission to a prominent educational trust to axe 24 mature trees, our report stated.

Now, irked locals are stating that the plot was originally designated for a public park but has been quietly leased out by CIDCO for institutional use. The PMC Tree Authority maintains that they have permission.