Three-year battle to declare Aarey a forest lost, but war to go on in SC

“After hearing a case for three years, NGT disposed of the Aarey case in 10 minutes saying it had no jurisdiction on the issue. We lost three years of hard labour,” said Stalin D, director, Vanashakti and petitioner in the matter. “We will not give up. The fight to get justice will continue, and we promise that the loot and plunder of forests won’t go unpunished.”

Even as activists seeking Aarey Colony in Goregaon be declared a forest withdrew their application filed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday, environmentalists said the fight to save the green lung will continue in the Supreme Court (SC).

Wildlife biologists have documented a large biodiversity at Aarey. (HT PHOTO)

Over the past four years, environmentalists from Vanashakti and Aarey Conservation Group (ACG) have been at loggerheads with the state and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC) over the construction of the Metro-3 car shed at Aarey, which will involve hacking of around 3,000 trees. They don’t want Aarey to lose its no-development zone tag, as it would open it up for construction.

“After hearing a case for three years, NGT disposed of the Aarey case in 10 minutes saying it had no jurisdiction on the issue. We lost three years of hard labour,” said Stalin D, director, Vanashakti and petitioner in the matter. “We will not give up. The fight to get justice will continue, and we promise that the loot and plunder of forests won’t go unpunished.”

“We had to complete the process of going through NGT. All hopes are now on how the Apex Court deals with this issue,” said Amrita Bhattacharjee, member, ACG. “MMRC will open up 165 hectares outside the eco-sensitive zone for overall development at Aarey.”

Wildlife biologists have documented a large biodiversity consisting of 77 different avifauna (birdlife) species, 90 different types of spiders, five species of tarantula, six species of scorpions, 86 species of butterflies, six species of venomous snakes and at least four leopards at Aarey. “There is no doubt that the population of leopards at Aarey will only grow. As it does, there will be a clash between growing development and wildlife. The state needs to come up with policies to ensure the development remains at arm’s length from ecologically sensitive areas,” said Madhav Gogate, former principal chief conservator of forests, Maharashtra.

Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said it was better that Aarey was not declared a forest. “The reputation of the state forest department is disastrous wherein it falsifies documents to meet it demands. The state needs to consider that Mumbai is fast running out of green spaces, and needs to implement protection measures for them,” he said.

Former municipal commissioner V Ranganathan said, “Constructing a car shed in Aarey and the Metro project is the need of the day. It will reduce pollution in Mumbai, as the number of vehicles will reduce. The only reservation I have is they must take the minimum land required for the car shed and leave it at that.” “Metro is needed, but car shed at Aarey or not is debatable. However, the number of trees lost is a small fraction of the 30-lakh odd trees across Mumbai, and Metro authorities will plant three times the amount. The loss can be compensated,” said Vivek Pai, transport planner, Mumbai Mobility Forum, a citizens’ group.