The citizens’ movement against the Tree Authority’s approval to remove 2,646 trees in Aarey forest is gaining strength. On Sunday, adivasis from the area joined the protest, in addition to political leaders such as Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
If there were hundreds of people who came out onto the streets for the human chain last Sunday, this weekend, the number had clearly swelled. There was heavy police protection during the protest, with people crowding the area on all sides.
From 10 a.m., more than 2,000 people, including the adivasis and other citizens, gathered near Picnic Point in Aarey, where they formed a human chain to oppose the cutting of trees. Leaders from the NCP, Shiv Sena and Aam Aadmi Party joined them for a while.
Aasha Bhoye, a resident of Prajurpada in Aarey forest, said, “We will lose the land on which we grow fruits and vegetables. We eat them and earn a living selling them and now, the government is saying it’s their land. But we are the ones who have maintained these lands and forests for such a long time.”
The land on which the trees are being cut is also home to people belonging to the Scheduled Castes. The government has rehabilitated the people living in the forest at Chakala and Kanjurmarg.
The protesters suspect that the authorities will cut more trees than what is on record.
Prakash Bhoir, a resident of Aarey and member of the Aadivasi Hakk Samvardhan Samiti, said, “Along with our homes, the government is destroying wildlife habitats. At least 120 acres of land has been assigned to build a zoo. How can they build a zoo by destroying the natural wildlife habitat (the zoo will reportedly be built in a leopard corridor)? Although the government has planned to plant more trees. they don’t live long.”
“In Keltipada in the Aarey forest, 96.8 acres has been given to the National Security Guard Commandos. We are forced to leave our houses, although [the National Security Guard commandos] don’t need so much land.”
Ritu Sharma, member of the Rescuing Association of Wildlife Welfare said cutting trees in Aarey, which is a home for wildlife, will result in greater human-wildlife conflict. “Six of us came to protest today, and the youngest was 13 years old. If this teenager can understand the loss, why can’t the government?”
Activists submit evidence on presence of leopards
A wildlife conservation NGO has written to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Board of Wildlife, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Japan International Cooperative Agency citing evidence of presence of at least nine leopards in the Aarey forest. In its letter, the Empower Foundation has attached government documents that prove the presence of leopards and has urged for their conservation.