Aarey to be shut at night to protect animals: Aaditya Thackeray

Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray speaking to midday on Sunday said the main Aarey road will be concretised and its access shut from 1 am to 5 am to protect the wildlife He also assured he would resolve the issues surrounding the poor condition of the internal roads and garbage menaceIf all goes as planned the issues surrounding the poor condition of the 45km internal road network and garbage collection and disposal at Aarey Milk Colony will also be resolved soon Thackeray said he has instructed the departments concerned to prepare the proposalsAaditya ThackerayDuring a video conference with the BMC Public Works Department PWD and Dairy Development Department DDD on Thursday he instructed the concerned departments to address both the issues of internal roads and garbage menaceDuring the meeting local MLA Ravindra Waikar suggested that the BMC takeover the internal roads of Aarey Milk Colony as the caretaker as the area comes under its jurisdictionAarey Milk Colony generates 175 metric tonnes of garbage as per BMCrsquos solid waste management deptTalking to midday Thackeray said ldquoSoon the cement concretisation work of the main Aarey Milk Colony road will begin and not a single tree will be touched Also mitigation measures for the wildlife like underpasses and speed restrictions will be in place Once the road work is complete we have plans to shut it from 1 am to 5 am so that the wildlife is not disturbed Only those who stay inside Aarey will be able to use the road during that time and others will have to use the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link RoadrdquoThackeray added ldquoWe have plans to repair the entire network of the internal roads and the issue of garbage collection and disposal will also be addressed I have asked the agencies concerned to prepare a proposal on road repairing and we will see if we can take help from the BMC or the MMRDA to carry out the workrdquoPotholes in Aarey colony in September 2021 File picSatej ShindeDuring the meeting Aarey Milk Colony Chief Executive Officer Ravindra Pawar informed the minister that two proposals related to repairing and resurfacing of the internal roads have been forwarded to the government One proposal of Rs 148 crore was prepared by the PWD on December 9 2021 and forwarded to the DDDFor this financial year the DDD has a total budgetary provision of Rs 327 crore for works in Aarey Milk Colony of which Rs 187 crore is for road work Given the bad condition of the interval roads it is difficult to carry out the entire repair work in the current budgetPawar informed Thackeray that he will prepare a proposal and if the MMRDA or the BMC is ready to help with funds then the issue of the bad internal roads can be solved permanently The issue of garbage collection and disposal is one of the major issues in Aarey Milk Colony and tribals living in 27 hamlets slum pockets and other locations have been demanding a permanent solution An official from the BMCrsquos Solid Waste Management department said 175 metric tonnes of garbage is generated daily from Aarey Milk Colony that has a population of over 4500045000Approx population of Aarey Milk Colony