Rampant illegal cutting of trees in Aarey colony and SGNP during lockdown was not enough when Mumbai got another shock where Supreme Court dismissed plea challenging the exclusive of Aarey Colony from the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) thus, Opening up a total of 407 acres of green land in Aarey Colony for infrastructure and building construction projects!

In 2016, the Union environment ministry had ordered for the exclusion of 407 acres from the over 15,000 acres notified as an Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

The ministry had justified this order citing the metro shed project and existence of slums and high-rises on the boundary of SGNP.

This order was challenged before the NGT. However, the NGT bench of chairperson Justice AK Goel and judicial member Justice SP Wangdi, with two expert members Nagin Nanda and Siddhanta Das, upheld the environment ministry's order and said, "no further order is necessary"

Following this, NGO Vanashakti and its director Stalin Dayanand had appealed in the apex court against the NGT order.

In its appeal, Vanashakti had put forth that the NGT bench "summarily disposed" of the case with an ex-parte order on January 24. "NGT acted in complete violation of rules of natural justice in deciding the case without hearing any party," the NGO said in its appeal.

It also alleged lapses in following the territorial jurisdiction. "The challenge was made before the NGT, western zone, in Pune, but the case was transferred to the NGT, principal bench, at New Delhi," it added.

The NGO further said that the NGT order allowing construction within an ESZ would impact the entire biodiversity of the park. "NGT failed to consider that the excluded land is a heavily forested land that boasts of trees of indigenous forest species and has varied flora and fauna."

It said the reduction in the ESZ area is completely against the spirit and purpose of National Wildlife Action Plan, 2002-2016 and the subsequent ESZ Guidelines of 2011.

While these latest updates have caused furor and dismay within Mumbaikars, Stalin shares some hope for the citizens on his Facebook post which reads:

“I need to clarify to all who read this that the battle for Aarey is NOT lost. The case which got dismissed was on the issue whether Govt can exempt 165 ha of ESZ land. Court feels that Govt can exempt. This does not mean that construction will start. There is a currently valid ban on tree felling inside entire Aarey colony. Nobody can start any project overnight. The main matter whether Aarey is a forest is still pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court."

Environmentalists believe that it is the right time for Maharashtra Government to take action and protect Aarey. The government does not have to wait for any court orders nor have any courts stopped the government from taking necessary action which includes declaring Aarey as reserved forest and banning all commercial and industrial activities inside this forest. We hope our Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray live up to their promises and endeavor to at least allow the green lungs of Mumbai to survive and thrive in their regime.