Let the Green Lungs Breathe

It is only 2% of the land, they say. More than 2000 trees have been cut, they mean. The city has been robbed of its largest green cover, they forget!

Bombay is looking at a future with infrastructural development, progress in transportation facilities and prosperity in lifestyle. But at what cost, did you stop to think? The Aarey forest has been the targeted victim of a long-going controversy with the government's plan to clear out some part of the land to make way for a car shed and nature-lovers protesting to protect the vast green cover. We want to develop, we want to prosper. But who comes under the purview of “we”? Is this word as inclusive as one would think? When it comes to the proposed plans of the Metro Phase III, the prospect of ease of travel, better connectivity and upgraded urban infrastructure is alluring, but is the price we’re expected to pay, worth it?

The car shed for the third phase of the Mumbai Metro is planned in a way that a large area of the Aarey forest land, 33 hectares to be specific, will have to go under deforestation. While debates on this subject have been going on all around us, let us look at some facts that can give us complete knowledge about the issue at hand.