City Pulse

Mumbai: One of the few remaining open spaces in Mumbai, Aarey Milk Colony, which is spread over 1,278 hectare land in Goregaon East, is drawing Mumbaikars in a movement to protect the green cover from proposed development projects. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) have earmarked 28 hectare of Aarey land to build a metro car shed under the Metro Line 3 project, but citizens and environmentalists haven’t yet given up protesting, as their arguments gain traction both on the ground and online. 

The MMRDA plans to transplant 2044 of the 2300 trees that will be uprooted to make room for the metro car shed and workshop, but the process is “a farce” and “has so far not succeeded”, says saveaarey.org, a citizen’s group founded in 2010, on its website. 

The MMRCL, on its website, says that a modified plan that will save 5 hectare of dense tree cover had received the nod of the state government on December 30, 2016. 

Stalin D, project head at Vanashakti, an NGO that filed an application at the National Green Tribunal, Pune, seeking declaration of the entire Aarey colony as forest area, says the MMRC has barricaded the land, but not started construction work yet. “We have organised several protest marches and events to draw government’s attention to the concerns of Mumbaikars with regard to development projects on Aarey land. But, it hasn’t awakened them to the reality of degrading a space that serves as city’s lungs,” he adds. 

“The government’s approach towards solving this problem is not apt because of insufficient knowledge about the environmental impact of such large scale deforestation and a lack of will to conserve forests. Areas such as Aarey Colony have become prime locations for real estate businessmen, leading to recurring cases of land-grabbing,” says photographer and activist Aslam Saiyad.

Altering the ecology of Aarey Colony without a scientific approach could lead to severe consequences on human life in the region, says Priya Mishra, a key campaigner of the Aarey Conservation Group. “The area houses Schedule 1 (The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972) species such as leopards and rock pythons among other wildlife, which would be affected due to deforestation. A committee set up by the chief minister in 2015 to explore alternatives had declared that going ahead with this plan could lead to the Mithi river overflowing and flooding areas such as the airport. The Mithi will also be polluted by the discharges of the metro car shed,” she adds.

Aarey Colony serves as a buffer zone for Sanjay Gandhi National Park and disturbing the forest cover here may lead to more negative interaction between humans and animals, saveaarey.org notes.   

Mishra says that levelling the hillocks and low-lying areas in Aarey will also lead to flooding of the many stables that the Colony houses.

A comic strip called ‘The Trees of Aarey’, created by Cyrus Daruwala, has been accentuating thoughts of the Aarey trees while referring them with names like Bodhi and Van. With witty and interesting takes on why the trees deserve to live, the comic strip attempts to spark conversations among people about the issue.

Mumbai already has just 12.4 sqkm of open space for 12.4 million people, or just 1.1 sqm per person.

“We have written letters to the ministry of environment and forest, local collectors and even to the BMC. We also filed a case with the NGT to declare Aarey as a forest area. There is a separate case going on in the high court,” says Mishra.

On October 14 2017, activists launched a chipko movement, wherein protesters hug trees to protest their uprooting, appealing to the government to reconsider its decision.

A subsequent Change.org petition started by Mumbai resident and musician Nirali Kartik and addressed to CM Devendra Fadnavis has also garnered more than 1,20,000 signatures.

The Aarey Conservation Group has organised several public awareness events in schools and colleges to apprise the youth of what they would lose if the government follows through with the construction.

“We can only try and use two ways. One, work with the authorities and appeal to the legal framework; and second, increase awareness among people to strengthen the Save Aarey movement. The metro takes up 28 hectare of the Aarey, but we also have the remaining 1250 hectare to save,” says Mishra.

All images courtesy Cyrus Daruwala.