Aarey Milk Colony not only falls within a “protected forest area” butis also an “eco-sensitive zone (ESZ)” and hence the repair of internal roads can be carried out in a “habitat-friendly manner” after approval from the forest department. This constitutes the intervention petition filed by NGO Vanashakti and environment activist Zoru Bathena in the Bombay High Court(HC).
Goregaon resident approached HC seeking internal roads be maintained by BMC
The petition comes in the wake of a resident of Royal Palms, Binod Agarwal, in the area in suburban Goregaon approaching the HC seeking that the internal roads be handed over to the BMC for maintenance.
Intervention plea opposes, says crucial environmental facts about Aarey have been concealed
The intervention petition opposes this plea and states that it seeks to place on record “certain crucial environmental facts that have been concealed, either actively or otherwise”, regarding Aarey.
Agarwal’s petition was filed after a contempt petition filed by advocate Ruju Thakker regarding wilful noncompliance by municipal corporations with regard to the 2018 HC judgment in a PIL on fixing roads. Agarwal prayed that the authorities be directed to repair Aarey’s internal roads.
Intervention plea states part of Aarey colony is reserved forest
Vanashakti’s application points out that on October 12, 2020, the Revenue Forest Department of the state government issued a notification under section 4 of the Indian Forests Act notifying 327.2 hectares of the Aarey Colony as a reserved forest in the first phase. Notified areas have been accordingly handed over to the forest department.
As per the intervention petition, an ESZ Monitoring Committee has also been appointed with the mandate to process applications for strengthening of roads by carefully scrutinising such applications while ensuring that vehicular movement is regulated in a habitat friendly manner.
Hence, any road repair or upgrade in Aarey Colony can commence as envisaged under the ESZ notification “without any adverse impact on the natural ecology” and “by regulating traffic in a habitatfriendly manner”, after taking appropriate approval from the panel.
“The ESZ and forest roads of Aarey are not to be used as a ‘short-cut’ for Mumbai’s vehicular traffic,” the application said. A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala has tagged Vanashakti’s application along with the main plea and keptitfor hearing on Jan 11.
