Aarey residents fear that the Panchavati garden area near the Force One commando base will soon become inaccessible. Construction of a wall at the edge of the garden has alarmed the locals and regulars, who wish to know who wants to cordon off the area that was built by concerned environmentalists.
Aarey residents fear that the Panchavati garden area near the Force One commando base will soon become inaccessible. Construction of a wall at the edge of the garden has alarmed the locals and regulars, who wish to know who wants to cordon off the area that was built by concerned environmentalists.
Manish Gadia, founder of the "Save Aarey" Facebook page, had also raised an alarm in 2010 when nearly 100 acres of land was given to Force One after the Mumbai terror attacks. "The garden is on 2 acres and Force One has 98.6 acres. They had given us a verbal assurance that the garden will be left alone. For five years, it has been business as usual and now suddenly a wall is being built. What is the purpose? Force One had said they don't need the land. We know Aarey is building this wall and it will be completed by the end of this week," he said.
The Panchavati garden was developed in 2001 on a barren land by late Vinay Athalye. He along with a friend planted more than 3,500 tress in Aarey. His son Sandeep Athalye said that around 5,200 visitors throng the garden on a daily basis and they won't be able to enter the garden for their daily walks and meditation anymore. "My father used to say nature has given us so much, we must give back. He planted more than 500 trees in Panchavati garden. He inspired many people to plant trees and even Aarey planted around 1 lakh trees after that. We went to counsel villagers and tribals in the area about not cutting trees. We have noticed that the bird population in the area has gone up, indicating high amount of oxygen in the area," he said.
It's wastage of funds, feels environmentalist
Biju Augustine, environmentalist and member of the citizens group, met the Aarey CEO and felt that funds are being wasted. "I met the Aarey CEO and he said they had given the funds to build the wall. The CEO offered no further comments. Force One did not know a wall was being built. It will displace three adivasi padas. They are building it just to spend money and because they have funds. Force One doesn't even need the wall," he said.
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