Mumbai: Activists tell Bombay High Court that government, MMRCL have already accepted Aarey as ‘forest’ area

Mumbai: The legal battle between activists and the Maharashtra government over allocation of Aarey Colony for the construction of Metro III car shed took an interesting turn on Monday. The activists told the Bombay High Court that there are several government records which clearly categorise Aarey Colony as a ‘forest’ area.  Interestingly, the affidavit also claimed that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) itself had accepted Aarey Colony to be a forest land.

The affidavit was submitted before a division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Prakash Naik, during the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the allocation of the Aarey land for Metro III car shed. The affidavit states, “I say that Aarey has been recorded as a Forest in several government records. To name some are the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd, which recorded in 1969 that 2076 Ha of an area was transferred from the Greater Bombay Milk Scheme at Aarey colony to the Forest division.”

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“Also, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by RITES (Rail India Technical & Economic Service) for the Metro III line also records that the land at Aarey is Green Forested area and requires additional clearances. Apart from this, even the letter of the District Collector, Mumbai Suburban District, written for the allocation of Aarey land for Metro III car shed project at Aarey clearly states that it is a forested area full of quagmire. It also records that this land is situated at the bed of the Mithi river,” the affidavit reads further.

Countering the ‘claims’ of the MMRCL that Aarey Colony is not a densely forested land, the affidavit further states, “The MMRCL in its own Environmental Impact Assessment report records that prior permission is needed under Forest Conservation Act 1980 and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for construction activities in the Aarey land.”

The affidavit further claims that the government ‘deliberately’ delayed in proposing to allot plot in Kanjurmarg, for the construction of car shed. It also claims that the Technical Committee, prepared by experts including officials from Delhi Metro, has suggested an alternative depot.