Environmentalists oppose road widening in Aarey

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) earlier this month released a tender to widen the Aarey main road, officially known as Dinkar Rao Desai Marg, to four lanes, with a width of nine metres, up from the existing seven-metre wide, two-lane arrangemen

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) earlier this month released a tender to widen the Aarey main road, officially known as Dinkar Rao Desai Marg, to four lanes, with a width of nine metres, up from the existing seven-metre wide, two-lane arrangement. The development, which marks the second time this year that BMC has issued a tender for revamping the Aarey main road, has sparked the ire of environmentalists, who maintain that such infrastructure expansion can be ecologically detrimental to the area.

The development, which marks the second time this year that BMC has issued a tender for revamping the Aarey main road, has sparked the ire of environmentalists, who maintain that such infrastructure expansion can be ecologically detrimental to the area. (HT PHOTO)

For example, the Aarey main road (which connects the western express highway) to the P/South, K/East and S Wards in suburban Mumbai, falls under the centrally notified eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which states “vehicular movement of traffic shall be regulated in a habitat friendly manner” within the ESZ. Moreover, the ESZ notification also regulates the widening and strengthening of existing roads, bridges, infrastructure and construction of new roads, with the view that such activities may be taken up when without causing any adverse impacts to the environment, which environmentalists say will be an inevitable outcome of any road widening in Aarey.

“It appears that, by widening the existing road, BMC intends to permit more vehicles to use this road which is in contravention of the provisions of the ESZ Notification, which directs that traffic must be regulated (controlled) in such ESZ areas. BMC cannot be permitted to allow the existing road, thru the ESZ & Forested areas of Aarey, to be used as some sort of traffic short-cut,” wrote Zoru Bhatena, an environmentalists and pro-Aarey campaigner, in a letter to authorities on Sunday.

A nearly identical tender to “improve” the main Aarey road had been floated in August, but was later scrapped by BMC, following a controversy over contractors quoting up to 40% less than estimated cost of ₹1,200 crore for road repairs and maintenance contracts across the city. The bids were reinvited for Aarey on October 4.

Sanjiv Valsan, a pro-Aarey campaigner, said, “Widening roads will increase the already heavy vehicular traffic movement in the area, in addition to threatening green cover. If th eBMC’s goal is to sustainably make traffic movement in the area more efficient, they need to impose a toll on heavy private vehicles which enter the forest, which will reduce traffic jams and therefore eliminate the need to widen the road.”