FOREST-DWELLING TRIBES FIGHT TO BREATHE LIFE INTO MUMBAI’S ‘LUNGS’ AMID URBANISATION
More than 2,700 trees are under threat from a metro train shed in heart of the city, writes Ruchi Kumar
Asha Bhoye has lived her whole life among dense forest in the otherwise metropolitan city of Mumbai.
As far as she knows, at least three generations of her family, going back over a century, have occupied a small, quickly diminishing patch of jungle in the heart of India’s commercial capital. “We lived here before you could call this city a city,” she says.
But a project by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation to build a metro line for the city threatens to destroy large parts of the Aarey Colony, the forest land that Ms Bhoye, 43, and other tribal people call home.
The urbanisation project requires more than 2,700 trees to be cut down in the Aarey Colony forest so a train shed can be built, work that will affect the tribal groups living on those land in padas, a Marathi word for hamlets, as well as wildlife, flora and fauna in the area.
“I live in Prajapur pada and there are 27 padas that are home to thousands of people,” Ms Bhoye says.
There are more than 9,000 tribal people living in a forest that currently covers more than 1,200 hectares of Mumbai.
But the proposed metro shed threatens to claim more than 33 hectares of this area.
Several civil and political groups have come forward in the past five years to support efforts by local tribes to protect their land against urbanisation.
But the campaign has taken on a sense of urgency in recent months after work began on the Mumbai Metro project, despite protests against its construction.
“I have already lost about 15 trees as well as land to their indiscriminate construction. I have lost parts of my orchard and trees that help support my family,” says Ms Bhoye, who like many members of her tribe depends on the land for sustenance.
They live on fruit and vegetables grown in their pada, selling the surplus.
The 2006 Forest Rights Act granted tribal groups a legal claim over land and other resources and helped them
to delay some urbanisation projects. But threats posed by Mumbai’s metro project continue to loom.
As well as endangering a way of life for the forest’s indigenous population, the project will also put local wildlife, including an endangered species of leopard, at risk.
“While the tribal people are losing their homes and livelihood due to this project, and other similar projects, increasing human activity in this area will also result in more human-animal conflict. The animal often pays for this with its life,” says Yash Marwah, an activist from Let India Breathe, one of many organisations participating in protests against the felling of trees for the metro project.
A survey last year showed there were more than 45 adult leopards and about nine cubs living in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which is located next to the Aarey Colony and is essentially a natural extension of its forest.
There is no border between where the humans and animals live, meaning leopards are frequently be spotted in the Aarey Colony.
The colony itself is home to 76 species of birds, 86 species of butterflies, 13 species of amphibians, 38 different types of reptiles, 19 spider species and 34 types of wild flowers.
“We have lived in harmony with nature so far,” Ms Bhoye says. The trees they are cutting, I have nurtured them like my children. They provide clean air, homes for the animals and many of the plants are herbal and used for medicinal purposes.”
Projects have made a noticeable project on the environment already.
Mr Marwah says the train shed project is being built on the catchment area of the Mithi River and could cause frequent flooding due to deforestation.
“The frequency and intensity with which they are cutting the trees is dangerous to us and the environment,” he says.
“The ecosystem is already changing and that is not good. It will affect the health of residents.
“The government’s own expert committee has suggested alternatives and the shed could be located at Kanjurmarg [an eastern suburb]. Mumbai need not lose its precious lungs.”
The protest movement against the development includes several grass-roots organisations, as well as several political entities.
It has grown over the past five years as more and more Mumbai citizens come forward to support the cause.
Some have crowded court rooms during hearings related to the case, as well as gathering in their thousands in demonstrations to try to save the land.
“We are seeing multiple layers here,” says Aditya Paul, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, a political party formed by social activists.
“One part that is visible in the media, is the mobilisation of the middle class and environmentalists who want to conserve what is an important biodiversity hot spot.
“Yet it goes beyond that. A large and important section of those fighting are the adivasis, or tribal people, who live in the hamlets in Aarey. They want to protect a way of life that is intrinsically connected to conserving the forest.”
This month, despite pouring rains and floods, more than 500 people gathered at the office of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which oversees the city’s infrastructure, to protest against the Metro Rail project.
Government officials say they also received more than 82,000 emails from people registering complaints against the felling of trees.
While voices of discontent rose during the demonstration, Ms Bhoye made herself heard.
“Why does your development have to result in us losing our homes, livelihood and the environment?” she asked, her frustration evident.
Government officials requested a 20-day period for deliberations and say they will announce their decision by the end of the month.
While Ms Bhoye and other activists wait for news, they say they will continue their campaign to save the forest land. “This is our home,” she says. “We have to fight for it, we have no where else to go.”