Aarey Forest

v/s Metro
CASE-STUDY.

Roshan Avinash-211210055
\\Outline. Introducing Aarey
forest
NO WILDLIFE IN
AAREY / PROJECT
SITE 17
Introduction
It is not just the case of Aarey — natural forests across India
have been subjected to large-scale species conversion over
past several decades. Vast stretches in the Himalayan foothills
have been converted to conifer monoculture, with species such
as pines and cedars proliferating, during the colonial rule.
Context
It is a myth that forests grow by themselves. The role of
indigenous communities in maintaining natural forests and
protecting them has become only too obvious
Far from conducting an impact assessment of how climate
change will affect Aarey in the absence of these thousands of
trees, the state government highlights a static level of CO2
emissions that will be curbed with the Metro 's arrival.
 Location of Aarey Forest
Aarey Colony, or simply Aarey, is located adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park
(SGNP), the only national park in the world within the city limits of a metropolis.
In 1963, a research study conducted by a student of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai,
under the guidance of Father Santapau (the first Director of the Botanical Survey of
India) indicated that 530 species of flowering plants can be found in Aarey. Not only is
this forest rich in biodiversity, it is also home to the Warli Adivasi community who
have been living here for generations.
This community has borne the brunt of development projects which ended up
displacing them and packing them into matchbox-sized, inconvenient Slum
Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) buildings. First came the Aarey Dairy, established in
the 1950s — it eventually ran into losses. Subsequently, parts of the land were given
to the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Force One (Mumbai Police) and Film City,
among others, leading to the division of forest land into smaller fragments. The latest
in this series of onslaughts is the Metro car-shed project.
Movement
. By now, the battle to save Mumbai's green
lungs has grown into one of the most
prominent environmental campaigns in urban
India in recent times. The movement has seen
the involvement of city dwellers,
environmentalists, students and even political
parties. After the Bombay High Court
dismissed several petitions, Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities, in
an inexplicable haste, started felling trees on
the night of 4 October. The protestors were
charged with serious sections of the IPC such
as Sections 353, 332, 143, 149, etc.
It is not just the Case of Aarey — natural forests across India
have been subjected to large-scale species conversion over
past several decades. Vast stretches in the Himalayan
foothills have been converted to conifer monoculture, with
species such as pines and cedars proliferating , during the
colonial rule. These species are exotic, provide fewer non-
timber forest products (NTFPs) and, in essence, are a
burden on indigenous communities which have known and
utilised the Minor Forest Produce (MFP) for their survival
and livelihood needs. Worse, these plantations have also
been found to be ineffective in soil and moisture
conservation.
Slogan-"Will plant more trees"
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' standard response to this has been, "We
will plant more trees", after declaring earlier that trees will be cut since
"development is important". Meanwhile, Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar backed the proposal to build the Metro car-shed saying
that development and environmental protection should be done together .
Interestingly, the minister drew parallels between Delhi Metro and Mumbai
Metro and even went to the extent of saying , "But metro has planted five
trees for every single tree that it has taken down. Now, there are 271
stations. Forest undercover [sic] area has increased in Delhi. 30 lakh people
are using the metro as public transport. This is the mantra of development
and protecting the environment. Both should go together".
Did You Know?
South Asian countries today are at a
delicate threshold facing severe
extreme Weather Conditions . A
Global Climate Risk Index released
at the Katowice summit in
Katowice, Poland, in 2018 showed
that intense cyclones, excessive
rainfall, and severe floods could
make India and its neighbours
among the worst affected countries
in the world.
Is Afforestation a way
forward?
Complex climate change situations necessitate nuanced
interventions. However, for the most part, India has
resorted to afforestation without consulting local
communities or conducting serious impact assessment
studies.
Moreover, there is evidence now that afforestation
programs may not be either necessary or sufficient to
mitigate the climate crisis.
Govt. Discussion
However, India's governments are far from recognising
these challenges and continue to encourage monocultures
and plantations of exotic species in natural forests. In
2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change (MoEF&CC) issued guidelines which proposed
handing over of open forests and natural scrub areas of
the country for captive plantations by wood- based
industries. It is anticipated that monoculture plantations
over these forestlands will create large-scale ecological,
economic, and social problems while frequent commercial
harvests of unnatural species will further reduce the
climate effectiveness of our forests.
Report-
As per AQI Mumbai, air Quality Index is
varying from 35 to 40, so we need clean and
fresh air otherwise in future we are going to
roam outside with mask.

Latest Report States that Cutting Down Aarey

will cause more Floods in Mumbai and all the
water will be pushed back to Mumbai Airport.
 Conclusion.
Our experience shows that, even
in declared or classified forests,
afforestation projects replace
indigenous or natural woods with
commercial wood based trees,
thereby disturbing the delicate
balance between the forests and
the environment.
Moreover, afforestation
projects have also become
the escape route to shrug
off accountability and
displace communities by
perpetuating atrocities on
them when governments
want to usher in new
development projects.
Reference
https://youtu.be/
8P8g_Mt6QcU NDTV news
some photographs from The Hindu
newspaper.