Mr CM Uddhav Thackeray, trees not secure in your favourite Aarey, say activists

Tracts of land are being cleared with the help of fire at Aarey

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray may have tried to protect the flora and fauna at Aarey Milk Colony with his decisions to scrap a Metro car depot and declare 800 acres as forest in the green zone, but ground realities do not seem to match with his efforts. Activists fighting to save Mumbai's green lungs say trees are being killed inside Aarey in the vicinity of the now-abandoned car shed.

A discarded identity card issued by MMRCL at the site

"Trees are being cut and deliberate fires are being set by antisocial elements near Tapovan temple, at the transplantation and compensatory plantation site which is within the control of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited. Authorities should take a serious note of the damage and strict action should be taken against those behind it," said green activist Sanjeev Valsan.

The activist alleged that some transplanted trees were also removed and replanted at another location. Over the past many days, activists and nature lovers have been reporting forest fires at Aarey. They say the land mafia is trying to facilitate growth of slums there. Earlier, mid-day had highlighted the threat to Aarey trees.

Volunteers attached to Valsan's group have shared pictures of tree stubs and blackened ground to back their claims. The Metro executor has engaged a contractor to transplant and replant trees along the concrete banks of Mithi river in the area as part of its environmental compensation efforts.

Two years ago, this newspaper had also reported that a majority of the trees transplanted near Tapeshwar temple near the erstwhile car depot site were either dead or on the verge of dying. Some of the trees had papers stuck on them showing information about where they had been uprooted from to make way for the Metro project.