Green activists’ warnings over Aarey must be verified

Landfilling is underway on a portion of land between old Aarey forest nursery at Marol toll naka and JVLR, says an activist

Aarey is making headlines once again, and this time, too, it is mired in controversy. A report in this paper said how green activists are appealing to authorities to stop landfilling work at Aarey.

The report details that a police complaint has also been filed and activists are hoping for some quick action. They claim that landfilling is going on on a five-acre patch of land, which is a floodplain and a catchment of the Mithi River.

The fallout of this filling they say is flooding risks, a situation that the weary and wary citizens know only too well. One warning says that the entire catchment area on the SEEPZ side is buried, exhorting authorities to pay attention to Aarey conservation.

An official has stated that levelling work is being carried out on a plot given to a corporation in 2016. While that may very well be true, we must tell authorities to, at the very least, pay attention to alarm bells that are pealing about the site.

If the activist's claims are untrue or there is no validity to the claims, a site visit and investigation, credible, fair and detailed but not never-ending, should bear that out. Here, we stress that there is merit in at least looking into what is being pointed out, instead of being dismissive, accusing green warriors of ratcheting up hysteria or spinning falsehoods. Going by the straightforward nature of the accusations, this can easily be verified.

Flooding has wreaked havoc in Mumbai during the monsoon season. The construction that has tilted the ecological balance and created huge risks, may now never be removed. We do have control over mitigating further damage to the environment, and we must exercise this option. Pay heed right now, so that we do not have a case of too little, too late and leave citizens to their fate.