Mumbai: Ensure Aarey Milk Colony has wildlife underpasses, Aaditya Thackeray tells civic chief

Aaditya Thackeray met civic chief Bhushan Gagrani with other Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders at the BMC headquarters on Monday. Pic/X

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, the former state environment minister, has once again voiced his support for the Aarey Milk Colony and its wildlife. In the wake of a recent mid-day report, which revealed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may reconsider building 14 planned wildlife underpasses in the colony due to concerns about a road's narrowness, Thackeray urged the municipal commissioner to begin construction work without delay. He stressed the importance of ensuring these underpasses are completed to safeguard the area's wildlife.

Monday meeting

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On Monday, Thackeray visited the BMC headquarters and met Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and discussed the Aarey wildlife underpasses among other subjects. Thackeray told mid-day that he had urged the civic authorities to reconsider their asphalt plan and not abandon the underpasses plan.

Thackeray posted on X late on Monday evening, "I also raised the issue about the Aarey Road today with the @mybmc Commissioner. As the then guardian minister, I had pushed the @mybmc to initiate the works and to build the wildlife underpasses. I have requested the BMC to not switch to any other material than cc roads and more importantly, to ensure that the wildlife underpasses are made (sic)."

On August 2, mid-day shed light on how the BMC had planned to convert Aarey Milk Colony's main road into a cement concrete one, but the three-kilometre stretch from the VIP guest house to Powai, known for wildlife crossings, may not receive the proposed underpasses. Due to the narrowness of the road and traffic constraints, the BMC is considering asphalt instead, which would result in 14 underpasses not being built, endangering wildlife including leopards.

‘Don't anything yet'

A forest department source revealed that 31 wildlife underpasses were proposed for the Aarey Milk Colony road. "Of these, 15 have been completed. If the BMC switches to asphalt, 14 underpasses on the stretch from the VIP guest house to Powai will not be constructed. We have not learnt of any decision by the BMC yet," the source said.

The BMC began the concreting of Aarey Colony's main road from Goregaon junction to L&T junction in Powai in 2022, with a completion target of 2025. The 4-km section from the Western Express Highway has already been finished. The total budget for the 7.2-km road is Rs 51.6 crore.

Every morning and during peak hours, the Aarey Milk Colony main road is congested from the VIP guest house junction towards Powai. Every monsoon, the condition of the pothole-ridden path from the VIP guest house junction up to the picnic point junction poses a challenge for commuters, who feel that the need of the hour is to concrete the road.