The 'Save Aarey' protest was held in opposition to the construction of a metro car shed in the forest

Hundreds of Mumbai residents demonstrated outside Picnic Point Garden in Aarey on Sunday between 11 A.M. and 12 P.M., demanding that the Metro-3 car shed be returned to Kanjurmarg rather than the Aarey forest. Shiv Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray also paid a visit to the protest site and expressed his support for the conservation of the forest.

 

"Regarding the protest, the idea is to have it every Sunday so that nobody forgets how important this issue is," said activist Sanjiv Valsan. Although we are aware of the Supreme Court's stay order prohibiting the cutting of trees in Aarey, we cannot afford to be complacent for a single moment, so the protest will continue until the demand is met. And the demand is straightforward: return the car shed to Kanjurmarg, where it will save 10000 crores in public tax money, interconnect the metro line, improve metro connectivity, and save a forest. This protest is not just about development versus the environment; in fact, the environmental issue has improved the metro lines by integrating them."

 

"Also, the central government delayed this project by putting a stay order on the Kanjurmarg land, and the previous government was trying to do something good, but it's back to the same issue now," Valsan explained. "The government wants to build the metro car shed in Aarey, but that will lead to the destruction of trees and animals in the forest," said Manoj Kamble, a protester and activist. Also, if the car shed is built here, the groundwater will be used for cleaning the trains and other purposes, reducing the amount of groundwater available for tree and vegetation growth in the Aarey region."

 

"Aarey is known as Mumbai's lungs, and I'm not fighting for myself; most of us here have already lived half our lives; I'm fighting for my students, for the next generation who will not be able to see this forest if such government projects are built on this land."  We've taken so much from the environment, but now it's time to give it back and save the Aarey forest," Kamble added. Earlier this week, newly sworn-in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reversed the Uddhav Thackeray government's decision and announced that the Metro 3 car shed will be built within Aarey forest. The decision was made during the first cabinet meeting.

 

 

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