As Politicians Ignore The Issue, People Seek Bear Grylls' Support In Saving Aarey Forest

As people of Mumbai continue their fight to save Aarey Forest, the last patch of greenery in the city from being destroyed for the metro project, a group of students have sought the help of British adventurer and host of TV show 'Man vs Wild', Bear Grylls.

Joining hands with city-based KAASH Foundation, some students of St Xavier College here have written to Bear Grylls, requesting him to back the `Save Aarey' movement.

BCCL

Students said in their letter to Bear Grylls on September 5 that "government is arbitrarily, and despite opposition from citizens, out to engage in state-sponsored environmental vandalism"; and he should voice support for those who are opposing it.

They received an auto-generated email in reply from his public relations office, saying "due to the volume of enquiries we receive we will only respond where necessary in taking an enquiry further".

BCCL

Prof Avkash Jadhav, head of the department of history at the college and trustee of KAASH Foundation who helped students send the letter, said, "Response from Bear Grylls will definitely add further sensitivity to this issue."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently featured in one of the episodes of Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls.

The development comes even as the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra continues to brazen it out with the growing protests against the proposal to cut thousands of trees.

On Friday, Fadnavis come out in support of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited¡¯s (MMRCL) plan to cut 2,703 trees in Aarey Colony, despite massive opposition.

He said that every tree cut will ¡°pain¡± him. He, however, defended the decision saying that the metro project will compensate for the ecological damage caused by tree-felling by drastically reducing the carbon footprint of commuting.

BCCL

Activists have alleged that the destruction of Aarey will have a devastating impact on the air quality of Mumbai.

According to campaigners, Aarey is the world¡¯s only forest in the middle of a modern metropolis and is home to not just a huge diversity of rare insects, reptiles and mammals including wild leopards, but also more than 7000 indigenous tribal people who have been living here in 27 aboriginal Warli tribal hamlets here for centuries, in harmony with nature, protecting this forest.