India, July 18 -- Forty five herons died while 27 others were rescued when their nests were destroyed during a tree trimming exercise at Rutu Enclave Cooperative Housing Society, at Ghodbunder Road, Thane, on Thursday.

While the society had received the permission to trim between 15 to 20 trees within the housing complex, including the recreational area, from Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) last week, following Thursday's incident, the forest department is investigating if the society had abided by the rules.

Range forest officer (RFO) Dinesh Desale said: "We have recorded the deaths of 45 herons and injuries to 27. While the trees were trimmed with TMC's permission, we are verifying whether the rules mentioned in the approval letter ...