Mumbai: Aarey Colony CEO in graft net; activists say bring back previous one

Bring back previous Aarey CEO After the AntiCorruption Bureau ACB arrested CEO of Aarey Milk Colony Nathu Rathod and his peon while accepting a bribe of Rs 50000 citybased green activists have urged that the government should appoint the earlier CEO Gajanan Raut who is known to be a nononsense officerAfter Rathod was caught redhanded on Monday the ACB during a search of his house on Tuesday also recovered Rs 35 crore in cashCash recovered from Nathu Rathodrsquos residenceEnvironmentalist Stalin D said ldquoPrevious CEO Gajanan Raut had undertaken drives to remove illegal encroachments and was proactive in protecting the trees He also took steps to revive the Aarey Dairy But itrsquos clear now that he was not seen as being in tune with the demands of vested interests Hopefully henceforth the MVA government will appreciate the work of honest officers and appoint them in important roles It was deeply saddening to see slums proliferating trees being felled and land being grabbed in the Aarey forests Numerous complaints fell on deaf years and now we demand a detailed investigation into all the entities involved in the Aarey land scam It is impossible that the CEO was acting alonerdquoAlso Read Aarey Colony handover to forest department to be done before monsoon OfficialslsquoRaut can protect AareyrsquoMany activists and nature lovers have taken to social media to express their demandsRaut was transferred from the CEOrsquos post in 2016 The transfer of an officer known for the demolition of over 300 hutments did not go down well with nature and wildlife lovers They had unsuccessfully appealed to the then CM Devendra Fadnavis to reinstate himGreen activist Zoru Bhathena said ldquoAarey is a pot of gold for our cityrsquos environment and unfortunately for corrupt officials too Bringing back the previous CEO Raut who was known to be honest and diligent will do much good in protecting AareyrdquoRaut had also taken the bold decision to close internal roads in Aarey at night for outside vehicles to protect wildlife This had met opposition from motorists as many take the internal Aarey roads to escape the traffic on the main road Raut however remained firm The decision was reversed when Rathod took chargelsquoWorked along with citizensrsquoEnvironmentalist Rohit Joshi said ldquoRaut not only supported but also joined citizens in initiatives for Aarey Be it a plantation drive or cleanup drive tree appreciation walks mdash he was always seen participating along with his wife and children Aarey Mahotsav organised by the ACG Aarey Conservation Group wouldnrsquot have been the huge success it was without his active support He was removed because he took strong action against illegal encroachments and slums We demand that Raut be made the Aarey CEO againrdquoNature lover Cassandra Nazareth said ldquoRaut should definitely be reinstated as he is an honest officer I have met him numerous times as part of my work with the tribal women of Aarey and he was very helpful I remember his premonsoon work of putting mud around tree roots because of which we saved many trees After he was transferred each rainy season we have lost so many giant trees along the roadside and no tree maintenance was done at allrdquoRs 50kAmount Nathu Rathod accepted as bribeRs 35crAmount recoveredfrom Rathodrsquos residence by ACB