If you are the hardcore Mumbaikar, or any city dweller, for that matter - How do you feel...
... when you look at lush green foliage covering the land - fifty shades of green so thick - you really don't know whether there is any ground underneath there...
... when you smell in the fresh unadulterated air and wonder, can the air be that sweet?...
... when you feel the cool breeze caress your skin, soothing away the summer heat...
... when you hear the sweet melody of exotic birds chirping and the tree leaves rustling as they commune with the breeze...
That is Aarey for us, the Mumbaikars of the western suburbs. That feeling of being free of the fetid air, the dirt, the crowd, the noise, the traffic, the concrete and cement under the feet and towering high above. The feeling of being one with Mother Nature. If only for a while...
Born and brought up in Goregaon, I have always had a special relationship with this special place - a relationship that spans more than one generation in our family.
When I was a kid, my Dad, forever a nature enthusiast, used to take us to Aarey.
No surprise there because we stayed in Goregaon West - and Aarey is just a few bus stops away, or a few minutes long walk (if you don't mind a little exercise). My mother worked in SEEPZ. She commuted via the BEST Bus through Aarey every day. My Dad, out of love for the Nature, used to go on long walks and treks into the very heart of the woods. So Aarey was always a familiar spot to us.
It might sound uncool in today's age, but Aarey was our de facto family outing spot.
We used to take long walks, via the back roads that are now so well known to bikers and cars that sadly peruse them to circumvent the traffic on the main road. Back then, these back roads, on which are located quite a few "tabela"s, were used only for Dairy transport. People, old and young, used to take long walks here. The road takes a serpentine route upwards through grassy glades and overhanging tree boughs thick with green foliage, till it reaches the New Zealand Hostel. Back then, there used to be a secluded area of walking tracks just before the Hostel. It was started and maintained by a group of walking enthusiasts, I think. The tracks were always kept neat and tidy. There were trees planted at regular intervals that afforded shade throughout the day. It was frequented daily by Joggers, walkers, kiddies, oldies, pets, strays, birds, wild life, you name it. There were a few benches, where oldie-goldies used to get together and chat. It was truly a community space, by the people and for the people.
There is a beautiful quaint temple in there - the Gaondevi Devasthaan - of Goddess Durga. We all visit so many famous temples and religious sites thronging with devotees. But being here, away from the turmoil of the city, with hardly any crowd, just sitting in this holy place smack in the lap of Mother Nature... This experience really redefines spirituality and makes one aware of being one with the eternal power we call God. We still visit here to pay our respect to the Goddess.
We used to sit by the lake which now goes by the horrible name of "Chotha Kashmir Boat Club". There was no boating here at the time. I think it was a kind of nature reserve used only for fish farming. At the time, the lake had platformed terraces on either side with a couple of stone benches where we would sit and silently soak in the sights, the sounds, the refreshing silence... We used to watch the beautiful canopies of surrounding trees stoop low enough to kiss the tranquil face of the water. How many of you are acquainted with the beautiful sight of huges green tree canopies reflecting off the almost crystal clear water that's full of tiny speckles of reflected evening sunlight? The birds would fly off or fly in to sit on the expansive ancient giant trees that surrounded the lake. Apart from their chirping and the occasional passing vehicle on the nearby road, all was silence and peace...
Chotta Kashmir (we used to call it O.P. - for Observation Post - don't know why they called it that) used to be a cool place full of lush green lawns of grass and colourful flowers and plants, made so famous as backdrops in eastman-color-picturized songs of a bygone era.
There was the Picnic Spot, which is now a dilapidated long forgotten place. I remember, one year, they took our school picnic there.
Did you know there was an unofficial back entry into the Film City somewhere nearby Aarey Dairy? My Dad took us there a couple of times. One time, I got to see the temple with the famous sideways steps, they regularly use in movies. There is a beautiful lake at the back of the temple. Another time, he took me and my sis along a road within the Film City which was blocked off (He always seems to find a way to get in to such places). He said this used to be a cement road constructed by the British who originally established the Aarey Milk Colony (Did you know its a "Milk Colony"? Sadly, many only know it as the perennial respite from the traffic on JVLR and WE Highway). He said it goes all the way to Mulund / Thane. And it connects with another similar road that goes straight into the national park and joins up with the road to Kanheri Caves. (Yup. Its all connected, the giant Lung of Mumbai (at least it used to be). All you need is look it up in the Google Maps.) He said they closed off the road after operation Blue Star when there was a rumour that a couple of Khalistani terrorists had infiltrated the area using that road. So off we went, and soon we were surrounded by the thick of the jungle. As we walked on, a jeep came by and stopped. I was scared. Were we in trouble with the authorities? It turned out to be forest officials. They told us that coming here was forbidden. One may only enter after seeking proper permission from the forest officer. They took us in the jeep and dropped us off where we had started. They also helpfully informed us that its forbidden not because of leopards, but because of monkeys, who appear to be more dangerous because they attack in packs. Ain't nature grand in all its savage glory?
Later they made the now famous Royal Palms area there. While this new construction blocked our secret passage into Film City, we used to visit the Golf Course they had constructed there. The lush green lawns of well-maintained grass going up and down was a source of unending awe and entertainment to us Middle-class folks. Until, they destroyed it and built buildings there...
We always used to frequent the New Zealand Hostel. Yes, you heard the name right. Apparently, some important official from New Zealand had inaugurated the place. Its a hostel for people who study Animal Husbandry (I think; one of the students we met there told us this - at the time I was seriously contemplating joining a course within Aarey Milk Colony... Was I simpleton or what!). We used to stop there during our frequent walks. Behind the reception is a water fountain - our thirst-quenching saviour at the time. When no one was around, we used to sneak behind the Hostel. The view afforded from the back lawn of the Hostel is breathtaking. The hostel is located above a small hill. From it's back side, one can see the rest of the hilly terrain of middle-aarey (sounds like "middle earth"?). On the opposite side, one sees the giant clock over the Aarey Dairy. One has an unhindered view of the hill's slope and the little valley between the hills. If you visit here right after the rainy season, the little valley is a giant bowl of lush green treetops. Come summer, the green gets interspersed with orange and red of the Gulmohars and other similar colourful trees. Weekends would find cricket matches being played on the ground outside the Hostel. There are an old set of steps that lead down from the ground, with a dense grove of Nilgiri trees on one side and the slope of the hill on the other. At the base is an old open theatre, which is no longer used, I think.
If you continue downward along the road outside the New Zealand Hostel, just before the Poultry Develoment centre is a depression in the land besides the road. During summer it becomes a ground for Cricket Matches. Come rains, it turns into a lake. Sometimes, after monsoon, its surface is covered with lotuses. The locals pluck and sell them there. Did you know, during monsoon, especially during Shravan, the locals from the adivasi padas in Aarey come down to the local Goregaon market to sell locally grown vegetables? The veggies, especially the seasonal ones, and the cucumber they sell are so fresh and tasty that we always end up buying stuff only from them during the monsoon season. If you happen to step off and go along small tracks in the woods, you may stumble upon an adivasi settlement - a collection of small quaint huts and little cultivated patches of earth. I am not sure these settlements still exist today. But I did happen to stumble upon a couple of them during those childhood treks with my Dad.
Further down the same road, you reach the entrance to Modern Bakery. And as soon as the side road ends and you cross the main road, there is the entrance to the Government Bungalow area. This is another beautiful place; the winding road leads up to a beautiful bungalow located above the hill. This is reserved only for high ranking government officials. Though the entry here is restricted for outsiders, we did manage to convince the caretaker to allow us into the lush gardens surrounding the bungalow a couple of times. There are also weekend cottages nearby for commoners like us, though we never got to visit them.
Our nature excursions into Aarey continued till I was a student in college. Then I got a job and my relationship with Aarey underwent gradual changes. For a while, I used to visit here with a chaddi-buddy of mine. We used to cycle or drive upto one of the secluded back roads early in the morning and then do some brisk walking. I was surprised to see so many young and old people come here even at this early hour of the day. Most of them dressed in walking gear, huffing and puffing, taking in the fresh natural air that's so rare to find just a kilometer away from there.
Then I switched jobs and started working in the SEEPZ area, and my relationship with Aarey changed again. I started taking the BEST Bus from Goregaon East Bus Depot to BSES Power bus stop (Now Reliance Power, or should I call it Adani Power?). From there I used to take a small track that led past a tabela straight to the JVLR opposite SEEPZ gate # 2. The ride through Aarey was convenient and fast. Not to mention oh so refreshing! Do you know the feeling of entering the Aarey during summer in a crowded bus? You are sweating and hot. And suddenly the temperature drops by atleast a few degrees. There is breeze in the air. The breath is effortless now - full of a fresh zing that only a natural wooded habitat like Aarey can provide. They used to levy tolls to enter Aarey at the time, so traffic was light. The bus used to pass through a long perpetual tunnel made up of tree trunks and green roofs. It was therapeutic, that ride through Aarey.
Then, 4-5 years back, they stopped taking toll charges. And all hell broke loose. Many used to complain why they levy toll when the roads are always in a bad shape? My reply was always - to keep outsiders like us out. The road through Aarey was never supposed to be a major traffic artery. And tolls used to keep most of the traffic at bay. But when they stopped taking tolls, the Aarey main road became a noisy thoroughfare with traffic snarls, incessant honking pandemonium, unruly rash driving, and it all kept getting worse day by day. It was a time when people were earning well, thanks to the IT boom, and vehicle loans were cheaper than Home loans (have always been I guess - sadly). The number of vehicles shot up exponentially during the first decade of the new century, and they kept growing into the second one. The Andheri Kurla Road was perpetually jammed thanks to the ongoing construction of the first Metro in Mumbai. All of this contributed to heavy traffic jams in Aarey during peak hours. The Aarey Colony, once so notorious for instilling fear in the hearts of drivers at the thought of driving through it past evening time, now saw traffic even at late night hours. I switched to commuting via train to Andheri and then by bus to SEEPZ.
What once used to be a part of the massive "lungs of Mumbai" - that stretch of green patch stretching from Goregaon all the way back to SGNP in Borivali, and from there, to Thane and Mulund, is now being destroyed in the name of Progress and Posterity. Aarey is not alien to encroachments. What was once a colony of adivasi padas, dairies and associated institutes later saw encroachment by illegal construction and colonies of the poor migrants (there are huge communities of south indians there now, and some north indians too). Later, local politicians shamelessly grabbed land under the guise of building public facilities like gardens and gymkhanas (just have a look at the now dilapidated gardens on either side of the entrance of Aarey). There was rampant encroachment behind Nagari Niwara (near Film City), where now stand tall and proud glass commercial buildings. Just go to your building terrace (if you stay in Goregaon) and look towards the hills that span Aarey. You will see the ugly gashes on the faces of the hills where the hills themselves have been excavated to make way for new construction. Then there is the Royal Palms, an ugly blotch of cement and concrete right in the heart of Aarey. I think they were given permission to construct only because they were planning a Golf Course. However, soon the Golf Course was replaced with so many residential and commercial buildings.
And now, this land of the trees and greenery and wild life, of serenity and fresh air and nature, is about to be razed for the Metro 3 Car shed.
Development has to happen. And when it does, there is always some collateral damage; the existing needs to be destroyed to make way for the new. I get it. But progress comes at what cost? Is the New really worth destroying the Old?
For years now, I have inculcated a habit of sowing the seeds of fruits we eat, instead of throwing them in garbage. What I noticed was that, of the tens of hundreds of seed you sow, only a few handful would take root. Of those few handfuls, only a few shoots would successfully grow into saplings. And of these few saplings only one or two plants grow up and survive for a year or so. Some saplings die out. Some get afflicted with disease or are destroyed by pests. Of the thousands of seeds within the hundreds of fruits that a tree manages to bring into this world every season, only a few survive. Of these, only the strongest are able to grow up and become full grown trees. Its a struggle for survival by the strongest of the lot, that takes years and years before we have a full grown tree, the likes of which are now being cut down in Aarey. All those trees are the successful and strong survivors which managed to grow up through years and years of struggle with the elements. And all this glorious natural flora will soon be lost to the inexorable march of human progress and avarice.
The officials claim that they will replant the trees they cut. But how many such replanted trees will successfully survive to grow up into full grown trees that are capable of replacing the trees we stand to lose today?
And what about some of the trees that belong to the indigenous species which are probably rare and native only to the Aarey area? They will be lost forever, won't they? I don't see a plan by the MMRCL for cultivating the trees of the same species. Their plan deals only with numbers, not with quality, neither with the type of trees they plant.
And most importantly, what about the life-giving oxygen these trees afford us right now? How much time will it take for the newly replanted trees to grow up and start giving the same amount of oxygen that the big trees in Aarey used to give? No one has an answer to this. For all the arguments and pros published by the Metro office in full page newspaper ads, I am sure they have no comparative study to measure the loss to the environment in these terms. Nobody gives a damn. I remember a futuristic video where the air is so polluted that humans need to order personal oxygen/air cylinders (delivered by a drone!) before venturing out into the harsh atmosphere. I think, with this kind of "Vikas", that day in not far. I am sure big companies already have a plan in place to mass-produce cheap oxygen and sell it at exorbitant rates as, just like the internet today, Oxygen will become "the next oil" of the future.
Many argue that the Metro would help reduce the number of cars on the road, thus justifying the razing of trees. I beg to differ. I remember when Metro 1 started, the ever-crowded Andheri-Kurla road suddenly went empty! But after the first few weeks, when the metro fares were raised, it was back to business as usual. While Metro 1 did improve the traffic situation on Andheri-Kurla road, you will still notice traffic snarls in quite a few areas. I used to work in JB Nagar, right next to the Metro station, at the time. And after the Metro started, commuting became quite convenient for us. Yet, so many people who came to office by cars and bikes continued to do so. I had colleagues who would still prefer auto-rickshaw rather than rely on public transport, including the Metro. The only impact was to the BEST buses between Andheri and Ghatkopar / Kurla, which now find less number of patrons than before. So the idea that Metro is supposed to reduce the Carbon footprint is a misguided and over-hyped concept.
If it is about the cost of the project which is why they want to build only in Aarey and not in any other place, then how do you calculate the cost of breathing problems to the future generations? What is the cost of loss of flora, and the loss of home for the fauna in Aarey? My Mom recounts one time many decades back, when she got to see a leopard cub in Aarey. It was sitting by the road, so clean and beautiful. It was startled by the noise of the bus but stayed put. It did not feel threatened, neither did the people on the bus. Wild animals don't attack unless they are hungry and desperate. Unlike us humans who hold no life sacred.
If one thinks of simply relocating the green patch that will be lost in Aarey - recreating a new green patch elsewhere - then this is an utterly quixotic wishful thinking. Just look at the so called "green patches" and "open areas" that the municipality has already constructed within the city. No trees of any consequence grow there. Small saplings, gardens (vertical or otherwise) and cultivated plants are no match to the giant old trees that grew up naturally through decades of natural selection process and the virtue of survival of the fittest, in Aarey.
I mentioned earlier how other areas of Aarey have already been misused and encroached upon in the past - like Royal Palms. But that does not give an excuse to continue to do the same for the Metro, does it? When did two wrongs make a right?
I agree that Metro is the need of the day. We need better infrastructure to support the ever increasing population of this city. But the Metro carshed could always have been built elsewhere. Why destroy the ecology of the Aarey Milk Colony? What legacy do we leave behind for our children - Air-conditioned air of the Metro train, or the natural air of the Lung of Mumbai?
The harsh reality of the impending destruction of Aarey sinks in, when we notice that what was once a patch of green on the Google Maps, now shows up as a normal land mass. But the shock only registers when one sees first hand, the destruction carried out by the Metro authorities during the few hours before the SC brought a stay on tree-cutting. The land looks so bare!
Making way for a carshed in Aarey is not a legal issue. Rather its a moral, ethical and environmental issue. Today, I feel so sad that my kids and grandkids would never know the natural splendour that was once the Aarey Milk Colony. I feel so bad for the loss of the next generation who did not see and experience what I had the fortunate privilege to make a part of some of my best memories. I feel concern for the shape of the environment we will be leaving behind for them.
Looking at the way the authorities handled the current situation in Aarey and literally squashed the protests, one can be sure that whether any one likes it or not, the Metro carshed will get constructed in Aarey. Stopping tolls in Aarey was the first step; Metro carshed was the next. One can easily extrapolate that soon Aarey will be opened up for building construction. The main road will be widened and will become a major artery to feed that ever-hungry perpetually-growing monster - the metropolitan traffic. And Aarey Milk Colony will become a dim memory, soon forgotten.
This is my attempt at penning down that which was, that which has now been lost, and that which will soon cease to exist in the near future...
... when you look at lush green foliage covering the land - fifty shades of green so thick - you really don't know whether there is any ground underneath there...
... when you smell in the fresh unadulterated air and wonder, can the air be that sweet?...
... when you feel the cool breeze caress your skin, soothing away the summer heat...
... when you hear the sweet melody of exotic birds chirping and the tree leaves rustling as they commune with the breeze...
That is Aarey for us, the Mumbaikars of the western suburbs. That feeling of being free of the fetid air, the dirt, the crowd, the noise, the traffic, the concrete and cement under the feet and towering high above. The feeling of being one with Mother Nature. If only for a while...
Born and brought up in Goregaon, I have always had a special relationship with this special place - a relationship that spans more than one generation in our family.
When I was a kid, my Dad, forever a nature enthusiast, used to take us to Aarey.
No surprise there because we stayed in Goregaon West - and Aarey is just a few bus stops away, or a few minutes long walk (if you don't mind a little exercise). My mother worked in SEEPZ. She commuted via the BEST Bus through Aarey every day. My Dad, out of love for the Nature, used to go on long walks and treks into the very heart of the woods. So Aarey was always a familiar spot to us.
It might sound uncool in today's age, but Aarey was our de facto family outing spot.
We used to take long walks, via the back roads that are now so well known to bikers and cars that sadly peruse them to circumvent the traffic on the main road. Back then, these back roads, on which are located quite a few "tabela"s, were used only for Dairy transport. People, old and young, used to take long walks here. The road takes a serpentine route upwards through grassy glades and overhanging tree boughs thick with green foliage, till it reaches the New Zealand Hostel. Back then, there used to be a secluded area of walking tracks just before the Hostel. It was started and maintained by a group of walking enthusiasts, I think. The tracks were always kept neat and tidy. There were trees planted at regular intervals that afforded shade throughout the day. It was frequented daily by Joggers, walkers, kiddies, oldies, pets, strays, birds, wild life, you name it. There were a few benches, where oldie-goldies used to get together and chat. It was truly a community space, by the people and for the people.
There is a beautiful quaint temple in there - the Gaondevi Devasthaan - of Goddess Durga. We all visit so many famous temples and religious sites thronging with devotees. But being here, away from the turmoil of the city, with hardly any crowd, just sitting in this holy place smack in the lap of Mother Nature... This experience really redefines spirituality and makes one aware of being one with the eternal power we call God. We still visit here to pay our respect to the Goddess.
We used to sit by the lake which now goes by the horrible name of "Chotha Kashmir Boat Club". There was no boating here at the time. I think it was a kind of nature reserve used only for fish farming. At the time, the lake had platformed terraces on either side with a couple of stone benches where we would sit and silently soak in the sights, the sounds, the refreshing silence... We used to watch the beautiful canopies of surrounding trees stoop low enough to kiss the tranquil face of the water. How many of you are acquainted with the beautiful sight of huges green tree canopies reflecting off the almost crystal clear water that's full of tiny speckles of reflected evening sunlight? The birds would fly off or fly in to sit on the expansive ancient giant trees that surrounded the lake. Apart from their chirping and the occasional passing vehicle on the nearby road, all was silence and peace...
Chotta Kashmir (we used to call it O.P. - for Observation Post - don't know why they called it that) used to be a cool place full of lush green lawns of grass and colourful flowers and plants, made so famous as backdrops in eastman-color-picturized songs of a bygone era.
There was the Picnic Spot, which is now a dilapidated long forgotten place. I remember, one year, they took our school picnic there.
Did you know there was an unofficial back entry into the Film City somewhere nearby Aarey Dairy? My Dad took us there a couple of times. One time, I got to see the temple with the famous sideways steps, they regularly use in movies. There is a beautiful lake at the back of the temple. Another time, he took me and my sis along a road within the Film City which was blocked off (He always seems to find a way to get in to such places). He said this used to be a cement road constructed by the British who originally established the Aarey Milk Colony (Did you know its a "Milk Colony"? Sadly, many only know it as the perennial respite from the traffic on JVLR and WE Highway). He said it goes all the way to Mulund / Thane. And it connects with another similar road that goes straight into the national park and joins up with the road to Kanheri Caves. (Yup. Its all connected, the giant Lung of Mumbai (at least it used to be). All you need is look it up in the Google Maps.) He said they closed off the road after operation Blue Star when there was a rumour that a couple of Khalistani terrorists had infiltrated the area using that road. So off we went, and soon we were surrounded by the thick of the jungle. As we walked on, a jeep came by and stopped. I was scared. Were we in trouble with the authorities? It turned out to be forest officials. They told us that coming here was forbidden. One may only enter after seeking proper permission from the forest officer. They took us in the jeep and dropped us off where we had started. They also helpfully informed us that its forbidden not because of leopards, but because of monkeys, who appear to be more dangerous because they attack in packs. Ain't nature grand in all its savage glory?
Later they made the now famous Royal Palms area there. While this new construction blocked our secret passage into Film City, we used to visit the Golf Course they had constructed there. The lush green lawns of well-maintained grass going up and down was a source of unending awe and entertainment to us Middle-class folks. Until, they destroyed it and built buildings there...
We always used to frequent the New Zealand Hostel. Yes, you heard the name right. Apparently, some important official from New Zealand had inaugurated the place. Its a hostel for people who study Animal Husbandry (I think; one of the students we met there told us this - at the time I was seriously contemplating joining a course within Aarey Milk Colony... Was I simpleton or what!). We used to stop there during our frequent walks. Behind the reception is a water fountain - our thirst-quenching saviour at the time. When no one was around, we used to sneak behind the Hostel. The view afforded from the back lawn of the Hostel is breathtaking. The hostel is located above a small hill. From it's back side, one can see the rest of the hilly terrain of middle-aarey (sounds like "middle earth"?). On the opposite side, one sees the giant clock over the Aarey Dairy. One has an unhindered view of the hill's slope and the little valley between the hills. If you visit here right after the rainy season, the little valley is a giant bowl of lush green treetops. Come summer, the green gets interspersed with orange and red of the Gulmohars and other similar colourful trees. Weekends would find cricket matches being played on the ground outside the Hostel. There are an old set of steps that lead down from the ground, with a dense grove of Nilgiri trees on one side and the slope of the hill on the other. At the base is an old open theatre, which is no longer used, I think.
If you continue downward along the road outside the New Zealand Hostel, just before the Poultry Develoment centre is a depression in the land besides the road. During summer it becomes a ground for Cricket Matches. Come rains, it turns into a lake. Sometimes, after monsoon, its surface is covered with lotuses. The locals pluck and sell them there. Did you know, during monsoon, especially during Shravan, the locals from the adivasi padas in Aarey come down to the local Goregaon market to sell locally grown vegetables? The veggies, especially the seasonal ones, and the cucumber they sell are so fresh and tasty that we always end up buying stuff only from them during the monsoon season. If you happen to step off and go along small tracks in the woods, you may stumble upon an adivasi settlement - a collection of small quaint huts and little cultivated patches of earth. I am not sure these settlements still exist today. But I did happen to stumble upon a couple of them during those childhood treks with my Dad.
Further down the same road, you reach the entrance to Modern Bakery. And as soon as the side road ends and you cross the main road, there is the entrance to the Government Bungalow area. This is another beautiful place; the winding road leads up to a beautiful bungalow located above the hill. This is reserved only for high ranking government officials. Though the entry here is restricted for outsiders, we did manage to convince the caretaker to allow us into the lush gardens surrounding the bungalow a couple of times. There are also weekend cottages nearby for commoners like us, though we never got to visit them.
Our nature excursions into Aarey continued till I was a student in college. Then I got a job and my relationship with Aarey underwent gradual changes. For a while, I used to visit here with a chaddi-buddy of mine. We used to cycle or drive upto one of the secluded back roads early in the morning and then do some brisk walking. I was surprised to see so many young and old people come here even at this early hour of the day. Most of them dressed in walking gear, huffing and puffing, taking in the fresh natural air that's so rare to find just a kilometer away from there.
Then I switched jobs and started working in the SEEPZ area, and my relationship with Aarey changed again. I started taking the BEST Bus from Goregaon East Bus Depot to BSES Power bus stop (Now Reliance Power, or should I call it Adani Power?). From there I used to take a small track that led past a tabela straight to the JVLR opposite SEEPZ gate # 2. The ride through Aarey was convenient and fast. Not to mention oh so refreshing! Do you know the feeling of entering the Aarey during summer in a crowded bus? You are sweating and hot. And suddenly the temperature drops by atleast a few degrees. There is breeze in the air. The breath is effortless now - full of a fresh zing that only a natural wooded habitat like Aarey can provide. They used to levy tolls to enter Aarey at the time, so traffic was light. The bus used to pass through a long perpetual tunnel made up of tree trunks and green roofs. It was therapeutic, that ride through Aarey.
Then, 4-5 years back, they stopped taking toll charges. And all hell broke loose. Many used to complain why they levy toll when the roads are always in a bad shape? My reply was always - to keep outsiders like us out. The road through Aarey was never supposed to be a major traffic artery. And tolls used to keep most of the traffic at bay. But when they stopped taking tolls, the Aarey main road became a noisy thoroughfare with traffic snarls, incessant honking pandemonium, unruly rash driving, and it all kept getting worse day by day. It was a time when people were earning well, thanks to the IT boom, and vehicle loans were cheaper than Home loans (have always been I guess - sadly). The number of vehicles shot up exponentially during the first decade of the new century, and they kept growing into the second one. The Andheri Kurla Road was perpetually jammed thanks to the ongoing construction of the first Metro in Mumbai. All of this contributed to heavy traffic jams in Aarey during peak hours. The Aarey Colony, once so notorious for instilling fear in the hearts of drivers at the thought of driving through it past evening time, now saw traffic even at late night hours. I switched to commuting via train to Andheri and then by bus to SEEPZ.
What once used to be a part of the massive "lungs of Mumbai" - that stretch of green patch stretching from Goregaon all the way back to SGNP in Borivali, and from there, to Thane and Mulund, is now being destroyed in the name of Progress and Posterity. Aarey is not alien to encroachments. What was once a colony of adivasi padas, dairies and associated institutes later saw encroachment by illegal construction and colonies of the poor migrants (there are huge communities of south indians there now, and some north indians too). Later, local politicians shamelessly grabbed land under the guise of building public facilities like gardens and gymkhanas (just have a look at the now dilapidated gardens on either side of the entrance of Aarey). There was rampant encroachment behind Nagari Niwara (near Film City), where now stand tall and proud glass commercial buildings. Just go to your building terrace (if you stay in Goregaon) and look towards the hills that span Aarey. You will see the ugly gashes on the faces of the hills where the hills themselves have been excavated to make way for new construction. Then there is the Royal Palms, an ugly blotch of cement and concrete right in the heart of Aarey. I think they were given permission to construct only because they were planning a Golf Course. However, soon the Golf Course was replaced with so many residential and commercial buildings.
And now, this land of the trees and greenery and wild life, of serenity and fresh air and nature, is about to be razed for the Metro 3 Car shed.
Development has to happen. And when it does, there is always some collateral damage; the existing needs to be destroyed to make way for the new. I get it. But progress comes at what cost? Is the New really worth destroying the Old?
For years now, I have inculcated a habit of sowing the seeds of fruits we eat, instead of throwing them in garbage. What I noticed was that, of the tens of hundreds of seed you sow, only a few handful would take root. Of those few handfuls, only a few shoots would successfully grow into saplings. And of these few saplings only one or two plants grow up and survive for a year or so. Some saplings die out. Some get afflicted with disease or are destroyed by pests. Of the thousands of seeds within the hundreds of fruits that a tree manages to bring into this world every season, only a few survive. Of these, only the strongest are able to grow up and become full grown trees. Its a struggle for survival by the strongest of the lot, that takes years and years before we have a full grown tree, the likes of which are now being cut down in Aarey. All those trees are the successful and strong survivors which managed to grow up through years and years of struggle with the elements. And all this glorious natural flora will soon be lost to the inexorable march of human progress and avarice.
The officials claim that they will replant the trees they cut. But how many such replanted trees will successfully survive to grow up into full grown trees that are capable of replacing the trees we stand to lose today?
And what about some of the trees that belong to the indigenous species which are probably rare and native only to the Aarey area? They will be lost forever, won't they? I don't see a plan by the MMRCL for cultivating the trees of the same species. Their plan deals only with numbers, not with quality, neither with the type of trees they plant.
And most importantly, what about the life-giving oxygen these trees afford us right now? How much time will it take for the newly replanted trees to grow up and start giving the same amount of oxygen that the big trees in Aarey used to give? No one has an answer to this. For all the arguments and pros published by the Metro office in full page newspaper ads, I am sure they have no comparative study to measure the loss to the environment in these terms. Nobody gives a damn. I remember a futuristic video where the air is so polluted that humans need to order personal oxygen/air cylinders (delivered by a drone!) before venturing out into the harsh atmosphere. I think, with this kind of "Vikas", that day in not far. I am sure big companies already have a plan in place to mass-produce cheap oxygen and sell it at exorbitant rates as, just like the internet today, Oxygen will become "the next oil" of the future.
Many argue that the Metro would help reduce the number of cars on the road, thus justifying the razing of trees. I beg to differ. I remember when Metro 1 started, the ever-crowded Andheri-Kurla road suddenly went empty! But after the first few weeks, when the metro fares were raised, it was back to business as usual. While Metro 1 did improve the traffic situation on Andheri-Kurla road, you will still notice traffic snarls in quite a few areas. I used to work in JB Nagar, right next to the Metro station, at the time. And after the Metro started, commuting became quite convenient for us. Yet, so many people who came to office by cars and bikes continued to do so. I had colleagues who would still prefer auto-rickshaw rather than rely on public transport, including the Metro. The only impact was to the BEST buses between Andheri and Ghatkopar / Kurla, which now find less number of patrons than before. So the idea that Metro is supposed to reduce the Carbon footprint is a misguided and over-hyped concept.
If it is about the cost of the project which is why they want to build only in Aarey and not in any other place, then how do you calculate the cost of breathing problems to the future generations? What is the cost of loss of flora, and the loss of home for the fauna in Aarey? My Mom recounts one time many decades back, when she got to see a leopard cub in Aarey. It was sitting by the road, so clean and beautiful. It was startled by the noise of the bus but stayed put. It did not feel threatened, neither did the people on the bus. Wild animals don't attack unless they are hungry and desperate. Unlike us humans who hold no life sacred.
If one thinks of simply relocating the green patch that will be lost in Aarey - recreating a new green patch elsewhere - then this is an utterly quixotic wishful thinking. Just look at the so called "green patches" and "open areas" that the municipality has already constructed within the city. No trees of any consequence grow there. Small saplings, gardens (vertical or otherwise) and cultivated plants are no match to the giant old trees that grew up naturally through decades of natural selection process and the virtue of survival of the fittest, in Aarey.
I mentioned earlier how other areas of Aarey have already been misused and encroached upon in the past - like Royal Palms. But that does not give an excuse to continue to do the same for the Metro, does it? When did two wrongs make a right?
I agree that Metro is the need of the day. We need better infrastructure to support the ever increasing population of this city. But the Metro carshed could always have been built elsewhere. Why destroy the ecology of the Aarey Milk Colony? What legacy do we leave behind for our children - Air-conditioned air of the Metro train, or the natural air of the Lung of Mumbai?
The harsh reality of the impending destruction of Aarey sinks in, when we notice that what was once a patch of green on the Google Maps, now shows up as a normal land mass. But the shock only registers when one sees first hand, the destruction carried out by the Metro authorities during the few hours before the SC brought a stay on tree-cutting. The land looks so bare!
Making way for a carshed in Aarey is not a legal issue. Rather its a moral, ethical and environmental issue. Today, I feel so sad that my kids and grandkids would never know the natural splendour that was once the Aarey Milk Colony. I feel so bad for the loss of the next generation who did not see and experience what I had the fortunate privilege to make a part of some of my best memories. I feel concern for the shape of the environment we will be leaving behind for them.
Looking at the way the authorities handled the current situation in Aarey and literally squashed the protests, one can be sure that whether any one likes it or not, the Metro carshed will get constructed in Aarey. Stopping tolls in Aarey was the first step; Metro carshed was the next. One can easily extrapolate that soon Aarey will be opened up for building construction. The main road will be widened and will become a major artery to feed that ever-hungry perpetually-growing monster - the metropolitan traffic. And Aarey Milk Colony will become a dim memory, soon forgotten.
This is my attempt at penning down that which was, that which has now been lost, and that which will soon cease to exist in the near future...
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