Activists told to back claim Aarey is forested area
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed activists challenging the construction of Metro III car shed in Aarey Colony to file an additional affidavit to substantiate their claims that the land is a ‘forested’ area.
A division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Prakash Naik asked the activist Zoru Bathena to file an additional affidavit in support of the earlier affidavit and other material, he has submitted.
Bathena has until now submitted several government records – obtained through RTI -- and also some google maps/images to demonstrate that the Aarey colony has always been protected under the category of forest land.
The judges have asked the activist to file the additional affidavit so that the material, he has submitted, can be taken on record and be relied upon by the court while deciding the matter.
The bench was seized with a petition challenging the decision of the government to allow construction of a car shed at Aarey Colony for Metro III line. The activists contended that the government has purposely amended the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act to facilitate the construction of car shed at Aarey Colony.
Earlier, the activists had filed an affidavit claiming that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) itself had accepted Aarey Colony to be a forest land.
The affidavit stated, “The Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by RITES (Rail India Technical & Economic Service) for the Metro III line also records that the land at Aarey is Green Forested area and requires additional clearances. Apart from this, even the letter of the District Collector, Mumbai Suburban District, written for the allocation of Aarey land for Metro III car shed project at Aarey clearly states that it is a forested area full of quagmire. It also records that this land is situated on the bed of the Mithi river.”
Countering the ‘claims’ of the MMRCL that Aarey Colony is not a densely forested land, the affidavit further claimed that the authority in its own Environmental Impact Assessment report recorded that prior permission would be needed under Forest Conservation Act 1980 and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for construction activities in the Aarey land.