Must restart defunct fire station at Aarey, says NGO

The NGO suspects that some fire incidents at Aarey Milk Colony are man-made and caused by encroachers to clear forest land

To find quick assistance in case of a fire emergency, Empower Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has written a letter to the chief executive officer and chief fire officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade requesting to urgently start the old non-operational fire station in Aarey Milk colony.

The forest fire incidents at Aarey have increased in recent times and nature lovers have alleged that the anti-social elements are responsible as they want to destroy the forest cover to encroach on the area.

Aarey Colony, the green lungs of Mumbai, is home to rich wildlife and biodiversity. Forest fires, especially in the dry season (February to May) are usually recorded in forests, causing damage to the biodiversity.

The NGO Empower Foundation has claimed to have independently documented a total of 11 fires from January to March this year in the forested patch at Aarey Milk Colony, Royal Palms and Bombay Veterinary College, Goregaon East. There were over 50 forest fires recorded last year, they said.

Founder and Chairperson of NGO Dr Jalpesh Mehta, said, "Our NGO has been working for Wildlife conservation at Aarey since the past 13 years and have observed good on-ground support from Marol fire station, who have always diligently addressed the fire issue. However, the distance and accessibility of most of the spots being in rough, hilly, difficult terrain have always been a challenge, where a lot of time is wasted."

The NGO in its report ‘Root cause analysis of recent Leopard-Human conflicts in Aarey Forest', which was submitted to Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray, has stated that "garbage forest fires were found to be correlated to encroachment."

Land encroachment

The NGO in its letter has also stated that last year from February 2021 to April 2021, more than 50 forest fire incidents were documented at Aarey, some of which allegedly look deliberate with an objective of land encroachment. The NGO claims that as 800+ acres of Aarey land is in the process of being merged into SGNP, the forest fire incidents are increasing. They are slated to increase manifold, which calls for urgent intervention, they say.

In larger interest of forest

There is an old fire station in the centre of Aarey Milk Colony which has not been operational for many years.

"It is apt in size, can house one fire tanker and extra space for additional support vehicles. The same (land and structure) belongs to the dairy department and was operational till the late ‘90s. Our team of experts have carried out a ground survey and have found the condition and basic requirements to be perfect (like water connection- both primary and secondary, electricity connection, office infrastructure in the fire station building, road connectivity, etc)," said Mehta. "The same can be a simple plug and play, if the fire department with its infrastructure and team can collaborate with the dairy department. They can/should make the above location available for the larger interest of the forest. With the newly established forest office in Aarey and forest teams on the ground, the fire-fighting can happen more collaboratively and effectively, especially in rough terrains," he added.

Forest fire locations

. January 3: Behind SRPF
. January 10: Unit 13 / Ganesh Nagar
. January 23: Adarsh Nagar
. January 30: Near New Zealand Hostel
. February 22: Behind Bombay Vet Hostel
. February 24: Royal Palms
. February 26: Modern Bakery
. February 27: Bombay Vet
. March 6: Nausacha Pada
. March 8: Royal Palms
. March 9: Jambori Maidan