Mumbai: AAP protests against ongoing work on Powai-Vihar cycle track

Protest at Deer park

When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was asked why it was merely protesting like common citizens rather than taking a stronger stand to oppose work on the ongoing Powai-Vihar cycle track, Ruben Mascarenhas, Working President, AAP Mumbai, said, "We do not have a political representative here otherwise we would have raised the issue in the House too."

Very opaque

The AAP on Tuesday held a protest at the Deer Park, which they said is ground zero of the proposed cycling track along the Powai-Vihar Lakes. The AAP then followed that protest with a press conference at their South Mumbai office on Wednesday where they stated that the project was shrouded in "ambiguity especially about the aegis under which the project has been sanctioned, and by whom; and had, for long, continued the construction without any conclusive environmental impact assessment [EIA] - ignorant of ongoing protests from environmentalists and activists".

Reclaimed land at Powai lake for the cycle track project

Rueben added, "There has been a letter dated September 21, 2021, from the Central Forest Department, instructing the Maharashtra State Revenue & Forest Department to take cognisance of complaints. Yet, we were at the site on Tuesday and the work has continued unabated. There are two kinds of cyclists in the city. One, the leisure cyclists that cycle for recreation and fitness. The others are the transportation cyclists, your doodh waala [milkman], newspaper vendors, chaiwalas and others. Both sections can use a cycle track if it is made just next to the road. Here, we see a track near the lake, we may see some part of the lake eventually taken. Here, it looks like a big road is being made, enough for two vehicles."

The ecology

The AAP representatives stated, "The Powai-Vihar Lakes' ecosystem is extremely fragile; it hosts diverse flora and fauna - Schedule 1 wildlife species like the Indian Marsh crocodiles, turtles, and various other species. Powai-Vihar lakes are Mumbai's ecological heritage as well as part of our natural infrastructure, which needs to be protected." Rueben echoed the party line as he stressed that they were "not against cycling tracks per se". He said, "In fact, we welcome them and are for their construction but they need to be done alongside roads and after public declarations regarding the planning and execution of such projects."

The demand

The AAP stated that there should have been a government notification as to the authorities involved, the decision making and execution process of the project, on either the BMC or the state government website. "That too is missing," they stated.

Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP National Executive Member and Mumbai Prabhari, said, "The AAP demands that the construction work of the Powai-Vihar Lake cycle track be stopped forthwith; and for the Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray to address the people, and explain his intentions behind this project. Until the environmental impact assessment [EIA] as concluded by a newly appointed committee this month, which is looking into the matter, and recommendations are presented with due importance given to public consultation, this project must not be allowed to proceed."

Ironically and inadvertently, the AAP and the BJP seem to be on the same page with these protests, though they are bitterly opposed on several fronts. The BJP too recently opposed the project claiming amongst other reasons that the track construction may disturb the crocodile habitat in the area.