From Aarey to Navi Mumbai: Mumbai’s ongoing battle to preserve its green spaces in an urban hub

The city of dreams, the commercial capital of the country, the metropolitan hub that attracts people from across the country - with these tags and more, Mumbai has become a symbol of urban development. In the process, it has become a concrete jungle in constant need of infrastructural growth. However, the nature-rich areas that the Maximum City harbours have often been at odds with said development. Mumbai has seen its fair share of environmental movements and campaigns, all aimed at conserving the rich biodiversity that exists within the city.

How have nature and wildlife conservation efforts taken shape in a place whose reputation hinges on development and urban planning? We take a look at some of them and speak to people involved in such movements about resolving the constant debate between development and conservation.

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Saving Aarey

While the fight to save trees and homes of Adivasi villagers in Aarey colony has gained limelight in the past few years due to the contentious construction of the metro car shed, the struggle to protect the area from being destroyed has been going on for long.

"It has been around 20 years that I have been following all the insidious ways in which the politician-developer nexus has been sabotaging the dairy industry and other natural resources in Aarey colony," says Rishi Aggarwal, an environmentalist and author associated with the movement.

"I have been working with saving mangroves and other development plans for 25 years now. That's how I came to be associated with the Aarey movement," he informs, adding, "In fact, in April 2012, when MMRDA called for a public meeting, I was the only one who objected to the car shed being situated in Aarey."

Despite activists protesting against the construction of the metro car shed, the Bombay High Court denied granting forest status to Aarey colony in 2019 and the Supreme Court allowed MMRCL to seek permission for cutting trees from the Tree Authority of India.

Now that the project is in place, Aarey residents and activists are still fighting to save the area.

"If you are not going to be able to make your MP or MLA lose the election over Aarey, activities like coming out on a rainy day and protesting, hugging trees, making human chains, etc. have questionable outcomes. There's a need to fight these politically," believes Aggarwal, whose book ‘Saving Aarey: The Undoing of an Environmental Campaign' further dwells on the challenges facing the campaign.

"We need to have a clear-cut vision plan for Aarey. Just protesting is not enough. Working and fighting for what it is that you exactly want Aarey to look like is the way forward. Do we want tourism? Do we want it as an urban recreation area? Do we want cultural activities to happen here? How do we enhance the ecology, which is in a bad state right now? All this needs to be thought of. If we just keep protesting, after a point, fatigue sets in even within the people of the city," he adds.

Saving Navi Mumbai wetlands

Away from the famous Aarey area, another environmental movement has been building up in Navi Mumbai. Residents of the area are stepping up to protect the wetlands in their vicinity, which are also home to the majestic flamingos and other species.

"We were walking in the NRI wetland area and saw people hacking the mangroves. We took a video and enquired further. They said the local municipality had sent them to cut the trees. As soon as we started taking the video, they ran away, which in itself means that they were doing something wrong," informs Shruti Agarwal, who along with her husband Sunil Agarwal, has been a key person in fighting wetland destruction in the area.

"Normally, nobody questions. They think everything is right. That is the biggest problem here. But we filed an FIR that day. And that's how the whole journey for saving the wetlands started," she states.

Navi Mumbai wetlands were going to be used for the construction of a golf course and other residential projects.

"They were trying to destroy the wetlands for construction. We found that the entire land was sold. Then we had to file RTIs, collect documents, etc. In 2018, we won in the high court. But the developers filed a Special Leave Petition," Agarwal further informs.

"We are currently fighting for about 80 hectares of land. Navi Mumbai was supposed to be a planned city. You need to consider why an area is allocated for something. You cannot touch a CRZ area. We, as citizens, have to be super active and question things. Our fight has been on for almost 10 years now," she adds.

Will the fight ever end?

"Every day we have been able to save the wetland, we count it as a win. It could have been destroyed that day itself. It has been 4-5 years that the SC hearing has not come up. But it's a win for us to have been able to save it for this long," she says hopefully.

Saving Mumbai wildlife

Apart from the development-nature conflict, the city has also been a witness to several instances of human-animal conflicts. Mumbai is home to diverse wildlife including migratory birds and wild animals. There have been instances of leopards venturing into residential areas near Sanjay Gandhi National Park or flamingoes facing a threat due to human activities. In such instances, wildlife conservation becomes important.

"My family has been animal-loving for decades and my childhood was spent around community animals and pets. I started getting injured and distressed animals treated since my early school days. I gradually started rescuing birds and snakes in my teenage and since then it has been an ongoing journey with thousands of animals and hundreds of different species," says Pawan Sharma, founder of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), Mumbai.

"We have independently and jointly conducted several complex wildlife rescue operations and they all had their own unique set of challenges. One such rescue operation was of an 11-foot-long crocodile which was displaced from its natural habitat during heavy rains in 2015. Another one was safely rescuing a leopard that entered and got trapped in a school in 2012," he informs.

When asked about the biggest challenge that Mumbai's wildlife faces at present, he is quick to say, "There are various factors like increasing human population leading to increase in development and infrastructure, which in turn leads to more negative human interactions resulting in conflicts. Shrinking open spaces which were crucial urban wildlife habitats form another set of challenges for many species. Increasing light, sound, air, water and soil pollution is also impacting several species and overall biodiversity as a whole."

Navigating human-animal conflict

"When we buy forest-facing houses, we get things in a package. As with the mountains, we get trees and fresh oxygen, we need to understand that we will be witnessing the presence of animals that live in the forests leading to interactions with them in day-to-day life," advises Sharma.

"Animals do not understand man-made boundaries and in urban wildlife habitats like Mumbai, sharing space and learning how to deal with them is very important. People need to know and follow basic dos and don'ts to avoid conflicts, accept and respect their presence and evolve together," he adds.
When we destroy their habitat to build ours, they are bound to act in some way.

Development vs Nature

Given development often forms the core reason for nature and wildlife destruction in the city, it is important to understand ways to navigate this dilemma. In a city whose functioning relies on infrastructural growth, is it easy to let go of development to conserve nature?

"We need to see what's important. There's no end to development. Of course, if it's a necessity, there needs to be development. But if it's a luxurious project, there's no end to that. Building a golf course by destroying wetlands is not important. Development needs to happen but detailed analysis and evaluation is necessary," states Agarwal.

"If blind development continues, there will be nothing left. We used to make sceneries back in school consisting of mountains, rivers, etc. That's all we'll have to show. Once upon a time, there used to be a mountain here. Once upon a time, there was a river, etc.," she adds.

On cutting trees and planting saplings elsewhere to compensate for the same, she says, "If there's a mangrove in a particular area, cutting it and planting saplings in another area won't help. It's like it's raining in Mumbai but you're asking someone in UP to wear a raincoat. There's a purpose the mangrove is here."

Aggarwal, on the other hand, states that people themselves choose development over nature.

"The politics of a particular time end up representing the wisdom or lack of wisdom of the masses. What people want is lifestyle and not nature. Everyone is catering to their lifestyle - my house interiors, my car, my European vacation. People might suffer the consequences and complain about the spirit of Mumbai and quality of life going down, but the fact of the matter is nobody is showing their distinct desire for a better environment," he comments.

"There are kids who are talking about climate change and big stuff at the UN. But if you were to ask them to confront their MLA or MP, would they be able to do that?" he questions.

"We talk very idealistically or theoretically. But you have to think pragmatically. Do the observations in your street add up? They don't," he concludes.

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