Irked over panel nod, Mumbaiites take to streets to save Aarey

Ever since the civic body’s tree authority cleared a proposal to cut and transplant 2,646 trees in Aarey Colony for the construction of a car shed for Metro-3, citizens

Ever since the civic body’s tree authority cleared a proposal to cut and transplant 2,646 trees in Aarey Colony for the construction of a car shed for Metro-3, citizens have been organising protests across the city.

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Aarey Colony is one of the last tracts of open, green spaces in the city, and a backyard for leopards and other wild animals from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

While a group of youngsters protested at seven locations across the city on Friday, there was another protest at the Picnic Point in Aarey on Saturday morning. “We will continue with the protest till our voices are heard. Even today we sat at Aarey for an hour and formed a human chain at the car shed site, though the police was not letting us protest,” said Nishant Bangera, founder of Muse Foundation.

“Everyone wants to grab land at Aarey, and adivasis have always been at the receiving end. The state says there is 30 hectares of land for the car shed, but the actual denotified land is 165 hectares. They also plan to build a 33-storey Metro Bhavan, an RTO office, restaurants, gyms, and even a zoo there,” said Harshad Tambe, a member of the group Save Aarey.