Thane, July 19 -- A tree-trimming contractor, Arfad Varekar, and three members of the Rutu Enclave Cooperative Housing Society have been booked for excessively pruning trees in the society's premises on Ghodbunder Road, after which 45 herons died and 27 were rescued. The incident occurred on Thursday when the housing society, after acquiring permissions from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), started trimming 10 trees in the society compound. Local activists and NGOs alerted the authorities after spotting dead and injured birds in the society's premises and claimed that excessive pruning was carried out during peak nesting season, leading to the destruction of birds' nests on the trees. Forest officials have confirmed that a significant portion of the tree canopy was removed, which is beyond the permissible limit as per municipal guidelines. The case against contractor Arfad Varekar and three members of the housing society - Chintamani Chavhan, Suresh Vishal, and Salivhandra Tansale - was registered under relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. While the police recorded the statements of the society members, the contractor was unavailable due to a medical emergency. The forest department and the TMC are conducting parallel inquiries into the matter....