Save Aarey movement: 3,000 protesters gather, say 'Buck FMC'

Aarey Colony

Social media protests against the cutting of trees for the Metro III car shed poured on to the streets on a rainy Sunday morning as thousands of citizens gathered at the proposed site to strengthen their voice of dissent. Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule and Gajanan Kirtikar from the Shiv Sena visited the spot to support the protesters. While those gathered spoke to Sule, Kirtikar was forced to leave the site.

Despite it being the festival time, about 2,500 to 3,000 protesters gathered at the proposed site for the Metro III car shed in support of the Save Aarey movement. Members of several NGOs working for the cause arrived in groups while many youngsters joined them as well. People started to gather at the spot before 11 am and the number continued to swell till 2 pm.

A group of bikers joined the protest carrying posters with taglines like 'Aarey ye, Aarey ye kya hua', 'Don't S(h)ave Aarey' and 'Buck FMC'. Some of the other protesters were carrying posters that said, 'How will you breathe money?', 'Trees A'are'y life' and 'All world is singing, chirping, tweeting but we are not listening'. Even tribals from Aarey had joined the protest.

Speaking to mid-day, tribal Asha Sambhave said, "Our land has been forcibly taken for the Metro. We don't have access to it but the authorities want us to prove that we are tribals." Sule, who visited the spot to rectify the fact that her party councillor Kaptan Malik had supported the tree-cutting proposal at the TA meeting, said, "We are with the citizens and will talk to the CM in the coming week."

On the other hand, Kirtikar had to leave the site after he faced the ire of the protesters, who were angry over the fact that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had shared
the dais with the Prime Minister for the Metro Bhavan foundation ceremony last Saturday.

Aarey Conservation group's FB page blocked

In a recent development, the Aarey Conservation group's Facebook page has been blocked from sharing links. Though this block would be lifted on September 11, environmentalist D Stalin said, "When the pressure starts building on the government and Facebook mysteriously disables our page, it isn't just a coincidence."

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