Another Victory For Activists Who Fought To Save Aarey Forest, Govt To Drop Cases Against Them
Days after reserving 600-acre Aarey land near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in suburban Mumbai as a forest, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the state Home Department to immediately start the procedure to withdraw cases registered against protestors last year for opposing the felling of trees for a proposed metro car-shed there.
Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray also tweeted about the decision taken at the State cabinet meeting.
I raised the issue of cases on those who protested against the tree hacking in Aarey last year, in a cabinet meeting today. I was backed by Ministers Dr Jitendra Awhad ji and Aslam Shaikh ji. The cabinet has decided to withdraw these cases. I thank Chief Minister Sir, Deputy Chief Minister Sir, Home Minister sir for support," Aaditya Thackeray tweeted.
He further tweeted that the protestors were standing for the future of the planet and the government can't have cases against those who stand up for the environment and forests.
"These were citizens/ protestors standing for the future of our planet. To hold them from stopping desired work was one thing but to press police charges was another. We can't have cases against those who stand up for environment and forests," he said.
Aarey often described as the last green patch of Mumbai has been a battleground of sorts for many years after the previous government decided to use the land for a car shed as part of the Mumbai Metro Rail.
Citizens and environmentalists opposed the move citing ecological concerns.?
Despite the strong opposition from activists and the continued back and forth legal battles, in October 2019, the MMRCL went into the forest and cut down thousands of trees before anyone could do anything.
Several tribals, youths, and activists who protested the cutting of trees were detained and later arrested by the police.?
Though they were granted bail later, the case against them had worried many, who were students or young professionals.
Battled throughout to save Aarey
The battle to save Aarey forest took a decisive turn after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Shiv Sena which was already backing the movement even when it was part of the NDA government came to power.
Last month, the Maharashtra government had signalled the beginning of removing construction material from the site.
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) project director S K Gupta said that the car shed site is being closed and secured¡±.
He added that scaffoldings, shuttering, rebar and construction debris are all being cleared out and pits being filled so that they do not remain a safety hazard.
Earlier the government had declared 600-acre Aarey land as Reserve Forest and said that it will be the first example of a?"huge jungle"?being conserved at the centre of a megapolis.
