22 September,2016 08:26 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
mid-day’s RTI query reveals that though National Green Tribunal has banned all construction in Aarey Colony, MMRC tried to mislead state by claiming this doesn’t apply to Metro 3 project
The proposed site for the Metro 3 car depot inside Aarey Colony, which is home to a wide range of flora and fauna. File pic
The Metro authorities are bent upon building the Metro III car depot in Aarey Colony, by hook or by crook. Now, an RTI query by mid-day has revealed that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) is even willing to lie to the government about a court order just to get permission to start construction.
Court order
Activists have strongly opposed this project (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz corridor) on the grounds that any construction inside Aarey will lead to the certain destruction of its green cover and harm its wildlife. In fact, the National Green Tribunal has issued an order to maintain status quo and stop all construction in the green pocket until it has finished hearing the matter. Besides, all of Aarey has been marked as an Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) in the draft notification prepared by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
But this correspondent filed an RTI seeking access to communication between the MMRC and the Urban Development Department (UDD), only to discover that the Metro officials have been lying. In a letter from to the UDD principal secretary in April, MMRC chief Ashwini Bhide claimed that there was no problem if they went ahead with the construction of the car depot in Aarey since the NGT order did not apply to them. It seems fitting that this letter - an attempt to fool the powers that be - was written on April 1: April Fools' Day.
Lying, MMRC?
The section from the letter states, "In view of orders of NGT date 13-01-2016, wherein it was clarified that there is no prohibitory relief granted by way of ad interim order and therefore locating car depot at Aarey Colony is not affected by NGTs order dated 20-07-2015. At the same time, MMRC has already submitted objection/suggestion to exclude car depot land at Aarey colony from proposed ESZ against notification dated 22-01-20016 of MoEFCC."
The final notification about the ESZ is yet to come, after which it will be clear as to which areas area within the protected zone and which are outside it.
The discovery of MMRC's attempt to mislead the state has met with criticism from green activists such as environmentalist Stalin D from NGO Vanashakti, who is also a member of the Aarey Conservation Group. He said, "The NGT has stated that a status quo should be maintained on any construction activity in Aarey Milk colony, so MMRC should stop misleading authorities. The UDD has already stated that the law and judiciary department should be consulted before going ahead with any decision regarding the Aarey depot."
