Why the proposed Metro III car shed in Aarey has the potential to endanger more than just trees

The government’s decision to construct Metro Rail III car shed in Aarey Milk Colony, Goregaon, stands even after hundreds came out in protest earlier this week. Worried environmentalists and wildlifers give Mumbaikars something to think about over the weekend: what the city is about to lose.

City’s air freshener

The 3,160 acres of Aarey hosts 4,00,000 trees, as per a Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai survey. For the world‘s 5th most polluted megacity (WHO report), and also India’s noisiest (Central Pollution Control Board), losing any of it will be a travesty. Talking about the allied lifestyle diseases these titles bring to Mumbai, environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal says, “Even medical practitioners recognise that walking and being close to nature are the cures. With the current 0.03 acres of accessible open space per 1,000 people versus the recommended 4 acres, should we even consider touching Aarey that regulates our temperature and pollution levels?”

Dairy heritage, our flood mitigator

Aarey Milk Dairy, set up in 1956 is Asia’s first dairy, and few realise that “this dairy heritage acts as a flood mitigator. Cultivation of fodder in low lying areas creates a sponge for millions of litres of rainwater, as does the proposed car shed site located on the banks of Mithi river. We can’t afford another flood like the 2005 deluge due to reclaiming of land at Bandra Kurla Complex,” says Aggarwal.

Felling 2,400 trees on the 20.8 hectare earmarked for the car shed will only add to Mumbai’s water woes. Kedar Gore, Director, The Corbett Foundation, says, “We have two fresh water lakes supplying 3 per cent of the city’s water.

Without forests, that aid rainwater percolation, we can’t harvest water; it would get washed away.”

Mother of SGNP

“Few know that Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) is an extension of Aarey, and not the other way around,“ says Vanashakti Director, Stalin Dayanand. 70 sq km of Aarey land was given to create the world’s only national park within a city. “Our protected areas are supposed to have a 10 km buffer. While that’s almost impossible, and past construction around SGNP can’t be undone, we need to protect whatever is left of it,” says Gore, and asks, “Whether or not it’s notified as an eco-sensitive zone, with the biodiversity Aarey has, isn’t the habitat worth preserving?”

Save Aarey’s website also lists a study by researchers Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza, who found 76 bird, 86 butterfly, 13 amphibian, 38 reptile, 19 spider and 34 wild flower species. Mammals like spotted deer, jungle cats, sambar, barking deer and Schedule I species: leopards (seven), rusty spotted cat and phythons (three) also live here.

“Aarey’s always had wild boar, jackal, civets... so much is yet to be explored. We should make it an educational hub for zoology, or botany, or an open-air lab for applied research. Given time and opportunity, the grasslands can grow into forests too,” adds Gore.

Man-animal conflict, which one’s real?

Adivasis residing in the colony, like Prakash Bhoir, aren’t afraid of animals, but ‘development‘. “Every time we give away land, we lose our source of water and other necessities.”

They’ve borne the brunt of snake bites after Force 1 snatched their habitat in his village, “but we didn’t complain as we (adivasis) worship nature. But the government cites such instances to push us out.” The real conflict, according to him and Stalin, arises from increased traffic due to mushrooming buildings, and the resultant pollution and road kills.

“Leopards and rock pythons have been found near the car shed site, too,” says Stalin.

He insists that the protestors “are not against development, but have seen Aarey decline since Royal Palms was allowed in 1999. Leopards still think it is their territory and jump into balconies, scaring people.

Land has been given away for cemeteries, a blind eye’s turned to encroachments and the milk industry has been gradually killed to make way for real estate opportunities. We’ve suggested seven alternatives outside Aarey, but the government isn’t responding.”