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

A damaged portion of the road at Aarey Milk Colony, in December 2021

Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, speaking to mid-day 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 menace.

If all goes as planned, the issues surrounding the poor condition of the 45-km 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 proposals.

Aaditya Thackeray

During 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 menace.

During 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 jurisdiction.

Aarey Milk Colony generates 17.5 metric tonnes of garbage, as per BMC's solid waste management dept

Talking to mid-day, Thackeray said, "Soon, 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 Road."

Thackeray added, "We 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 work."

Potholes in Aarey colony in September 2021. File pic/Satej Shinde

During 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 DDD.

For this financial year, the DDD has a total budgetary provision of Rs 3.27 crore for works in Aarey Milk Colony, of which Rs 1.87 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 budget.

Pawar 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 BMC's Solid Waste Management department said 17.5 metric tonnes of garbage is generated daily from Aarey Milk Colony that has a population of over 45,000.

45,000
Approx population of Aarey Milk Colony