EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2019 GROUND ZERO 13 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE A metro line in search of a car shed After Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray stayed work on the car shed for Mumbai’s Metro Line 3, the search has begun for possible alternatives. Ajeet Mahale and Tanvi Deshpande report on the ‘development versus environment’ debate brought to the fore by the ‘Save Aarey’ protests n December 1, Vidya Poddar heaved a big sigh of relief when OMaharashtra Chief Minister Udd­ hav Thackeray ordered the withdrawal of cases registered against 29 persons, including her son, who had staged a protest at the Aarey Milk Colony in Mumbai in October. This was not the only win for citizens fighting to protect Aarey, known as the “green lungs” of the city, where a metro car shed was proposed to be built in place of several hundred trees. The Chief Minister also announced that he was stopping all work on the metro car shed project. Since then, the State government has set up a four­member committee to look for an alternative site for the car shed. The committee conducted its first site visits on December 17 and is expected to submit its report in 15 days. But while the activists have some cause to cheer, Uddhav Thackeray’s an­ nouncement raised concerns about further delay in the project, which will severely inconvenience the city’s com­ muters. Banking on this argument, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been questioning the decision to review the car shed with former Chief Minister De­ vendra Fadnavis, whose previous go­ vernment had pushed for the project to be completed, leading the attack. Form­ er BJP MP Kirit Somaiya visited the car shed site on December 5 and said that construction should proceed as no more trees are required to be cut. Sub­ sequently, the Chief Minister clarified that work on Metro Line 3 has not been stopped; that the stay was only for the work on the car shed. Impact of delay All the same, the decision to stay the work on the car shed may have an im­ pact on the timeline and cost of the pro­ Citizens gather to protest against tree felling in Aarey Milk Colony, Mumbai, on September 8. (Below): Protesters gather at the site after authorities were given the signal to hack down trees in Aarey in the middle of ject. According to the implementing the night of October 5, just hours after the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed petitions against the planned metro car shed . * ARUNANGSU ROY CHOWDHURY/ VIJAY BATE agency of Metro Line 3, the Mumbai Me­ tro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), a delay of one day increases the cost of the project by ₹4.23 crore. While work and approach either the High Court or bited the Tree Authority from issuing appears to have kept his word. tioning how there was no time for a for­ on the car shed has been stayed, other the Supreme Court. any permissions until it appointed ex­ mal petition. Thankfully, the Supreme works such as tunnelling and station de­ Dayanand says that the judgment was perts. In April 2019, the Tree Authority The night the trees were cut Court gave us a hearing,” says Ranjan. velopment have been progressing. the biggest blow to the movement. “We finally got four experts on board and la­ On October 4, at around 8 p.m., barely Despite it being a Sunday, the Supreme MMRCL is also under pressure as the felt really betrayed. The movement had ter added one more. hours after the Bombay High Court had Court heard the matter and ordered a first trains are expected to arrive by No­ gone quiet because the NGT was hear­ dismissed a petition challenging the stay. “Even though the trees have been vember 2020. With no car shed, the ing the matter. There were stay orders Jumping into the fray Tree Authority’s permission, MMRCL cut now, the letter has been converted trains have no place to be parked. The in force and the petitions were going On August 29, the Tree Authority began cutting the first lot of trees. “The into a PIL. We are fighting the matter on Metro Line 3 corridor is expected to strong. But with that judgment, all the passed the proposal amid outrage. The worst thing they could have done was to a number of other aspects to ensure we cost ₹23,136 crore, of which the Japa­ protection disappeared,” he says. number of trees to be removed was re­ cut the trees at night, the moment the set the right precedent,” he says. nese International Cooperation Agency The petitioners approached the Bom­ duced to 2,646 — 2,185 trees were to be High Court dismissed the petitions,” On October 7, after the curfew was re­ will provide ₹13,325 crore as loan. bay High Court with the same petition. cut and 461 transplanted. More politi­ Dayanand says. As word of the tree cut­ moved, in its first statement after the During the course of the legal battle, The High Court was simultaneously cians jumped into the fray; the protests ting spread thick and fast on social me­ tree cutting started, the MMRCL an­ a plot in Kanjurmarg was discussed as a hearing other petitions to stop con­ slowly turned into an election issue. dia, hundreds of activists, students and nounced that 2,141 trees had been cut feasible option as it would also serve MMRCL pasted notices on trees inside struction of the metro car shed which While the BJP and the Nationalist Con­ citizens gathered at the site in a last­ on site. The figure has been hotly dis­ another metro corridor, Metro Line 6. Aarey Milk Colony. The notices meant claimed that the location of the shed gress Party supported the proposal, ditch attempt to save Aarey. “I had just puted by environmental activists asso­ Recently, NCP leader Nawab Malik also that 2,298 trees were going to be cut and was problematic as it was the only re­ along with two of the three nominated returned from work when I found out ciated with the movement. “In my opi­ suggested a plot in Jogeshwari East, the corporation had invited objections maining floodplain of the Mithi river. experts present on the occasion, the that trees were being cut,” Siddharth nion, not more than 350 trees have which is with the State Reserve Police to the same. What followed were a se­ The Court dismissed all the cases and al­ Congress staged a walkout. The Shiv Se­ Anbhavane, 27, recalls. “I rushed to the been cut; the rest are still standing. We Force. However, both plots will involve ries of meetings at Aarey and demon­ so vacated the stay on the cutting of na opposed the proposal in the meeting site with some of my friends. All we have asked the Supreme Court to give us extending the metro line either to the strations across the city. A human chain trees. The petitioners have appealed and also moved the court against the de­ were doing was raising slogans and permission to conduct a site inspection east or the west and thus escalate the was formed on Marine Drive and several against the High Court order in the Su­ cision. The proposal, just ahead of the protesting, which is our right.” to ascertain how many trees have been cost and time taken for completion. In protesters hugged trees at the car shed preme Court. Maharashtra Assembly elections in Oc­ The protesters laid siege to the car cut,” Dayanand says. an event organised by SNDT University site, à la Chipko movement. The move­ While the High Court’s order was yet tober, brought heavy flak to the Tree shed site. They broke through the gates in September, the MD of MMRCL, Ash­ ment also received the support of another blow to the protesters, Daya­ Authority, especially because the ex­ to reach the site of the tree felling. With Environmental concerns wini Bhide, had said that it would take Thackeray’s son, Aaditya, as well as his nand says the movement began to wav­ perts voted in favour of cutting the the situation escalating, a curfew was Amrita Bhattacharjee of the Aarey Con­ roughly two years to develop a car shed political rival and cousin Raj Thacke­ er after the NGT order. A section of the trees. The two experts eventually re­ imposed at Aarey. It lasted for three servation Group says they wanted the after they received the land. ray’s outfit, the Maharashtra Navnirman old guard had got fatigued, he says, and signed, only to withdraw their resigna­ days. Hundreds of protesters were forci­ metro car shed to be moved out of Aa­ The battle over the car shed site had Sena, as early as 2015. The central de­ the widespread notion was that there tions later. Later, the BJP as well as mun­ bly evicted and detained. The protest rey followed by other proposed projects been a point of friction with the former mand of the protesters was to scrap the wasn’t much to do on the ground since icipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi went on until 2.30 a.m. on October 5, like the zoo and the Metro Bhavan . government, which, through the car shed for the underground metro the courts were hearing the matter . defended the Tree Authority’s decision when the last batch of protesters were “Two rivers, Mithi and Oshiwara, flow MMRCL, went on an overdrive to put corridor and relocate it elsewhere.