Aarey re - #SaveAarey

If you live in Mumbai, I am sure you are well aware of the Aarey plight. A citizen-led protest that is taking over the state government for the benefit of the city’s ecology and people, is all over the news these days.

It is common knowledge that the easiest way to keep the pollution low is to plant more trees. Mumbai, along with several Indian cities, has been topping the charts of “Most polluted cities” across the globe. Mumbai is also one of the few cities which has a forest and wildlife living right in the heart of the city. In such a scenario, it should be obvious that protecting a forest that is providing us with fresh air should be our top priority – unfortunately, it isn’t.

So let me start with a few crucial reasons why it is important to save the Aarey Forest,

• It is a part of the only surviving green lung of the city. So if you want purified air for yourself and your family, this issue should be important to you.
• To save wildlife and protect the ecology at place there.
• The car shed site is in the flood-plain area of the Mithi River. Building the car shed there means additional flooding in the city.

What the MMRC is saying is,

It is just a small part of the forest, that too in the peripheral region.

This can be true about the car shed, but this is just the first part. Several projects are coming up in the Aarey Forest, basically stripping us away from our green cover, one by one. A metro inside a forested area means the potential to extend it into a station and turn the area into a residential hotspot. While we are just focusing on the car shed, there are a few other projects also being planned in the area, like,

• A Zoo (Yes, they are cutting a forest to build a zoo)
• A Metro Bhavan (A 30 storey commercial space)
• An SRA Project (slum dwellers from across the city would be moved here to open up prime property for builders)

It is also important to note that for the upkeep of the Car Shed, the groundwater would be utilised. Remember, this is the groundwater of a forest, which means it is pristine and potable. Let’s not forget that before monsoon this year, the groundwater across the country had dipped and we were nearing or were already at the emergence of a drought-like situation. In such a case, we would be using drinkable water to wash metros. According to an activist, the estimate is that close to 50,000 litres of water would be used daily.

Other options are not available

The Metro 6 car shed is being planned at Kanjurmarg, which was deemed unfit for Metro 3. It is unclear how an area which can was deemed unfit for one phase is fit for another phase of the same project.

Will help reduce pollution

Delhi and Kolkata have an amazing network of Metro connecting the entire city. The cities still top the list of most polluted cities in India. In fact, at times Delhi is even worse than Mumbai.

This is selective outrage, you did not protest when other development happened in the area

Umm, so, just because we did not protest earlier means we shouldn’t protest even now? So we shouldn’t correct our mistakes?

Picture: Amit Bar

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.

(Obviously, you must be wondering what qualifies me to write this blogpost. I would like to clarify that this is based on several interactions with the activists, government officials, Tribals who live in Aarey and after attending a couple of court proceedings and actually visiting the Aarey Colony.)