The Other Side of Aarey

In July 2019, Savita Naik, a 30-year-old woman from Dombilvi died after falling from an overcrowded local train in Mumbai. Two days after this incident, Shiv Kumar Vallabh, a 26-year-old man died in a similar incident. Shiv was hanging on to the door because the train was packed. He lost his foothold and fell off the train.

Unfortunate incidents like these are not a rarity in Mumbai. As per the data provided by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in response to an RTI query, 3014 commuters were killed in 2017 on Mumbai railway tracks. It is recorded that nine people die every day on Mumbai local train tracks.

According to the railway data, in 65 years, the passenger load on Mumbai’s suburban rail system grew more than eight times, while train capacity grew about three times.

Mumbai locals, which are called the city’s lifeline, accommodate over 7.5 million passengers every day. In this critical situation, where thousands of people are losing their lives every year, there is an urgent need to get more trains running in the city.

Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited is trying to solve this by introducing Metro Line 3 or the Colaba–Bandra-SEEPZ line.

Metro 3 line of Mumbai will carry 17 lakh passengers per day. It will have 27 stations and one metro car shed.

The car shed is proposed to be constructed at Aarey Milk Colony. This would require cutting and transplanting of about 2,700 trees. This step has caused an uproar with people coming out to protest against this move. The trees at Arrey is a crucial “lung space” for Mumbai.

The trees at Aarey

The area hosts over 4.8 lakhs trees. Metro depot will cause falling of 2,700 trees out of which 450 will be transplanted in the vicinity and six times more trees will be planted as a compensatory plantation. MMRC claims to have planted 24,000 grown-up trees already near Aarey on degraded lands of Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

As per BMC officials, over 60 percent of the trees in that area are non-native and exotic, which can be replaced by Native and younger ones which more than compensate their benefits. Species like Subabul are planted in that area, which is causing more harm to the environment.

As said by Dr. Nilesh Baxi, a member of Tree Authority, to Mid Day, “Subabul is of no use and is instead killing the environment. This plant has the capacity to kill other plants that grow adjacent to it.”

“The carbon footprint of 2,700 trees being cut and carbon footprint of the large number of vehicles used by a small percentage of population causing lots of pollution needs to be understood and evaluated before coming to conclusions about good or bad effects of the Metro car shed at Aarey,” Praveen Pardeshi, Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai told The Stories of Change.

He also said that the carbon sequestration by these 2,700 trees will be equivalent to one week trips of the metro.  “In simple terms, the damage to the environment due to a large number of vehicles on the road will be much than that due to cutting of these trees,” he said.

What about tribal and wildlife?

As per the claims of MMRCL, there are no adivasis in the area being occupied for the car depot. Also, as per the Environmental Impact Assessment for Mumbai study reports that there is no wildlife habitat in Car Depot location.

Depot site is unpaved in 75 percent of its area, i.e 22.5 Hectares, that will allow the rainwater to directly seep into the ground. Hence, the groundwater charging will continue to take place in 75 percent of the area.

Why Metro 3 is needed and what will the car shed do?

“By carrying over 17 lakh passengers every day, the metro takes 6.5 lakhs vehicle trips off the road. This will reduce CO2 emission by 2.6 lakh metric tons every year as per the independent study be UNFCC,” Pardeshi said.

The Metro will connect all the heather to not connected locations in Mumbai city for a seamless travel. The metro will work together with BEST buses, which are being revived for operational efficiency. The synergy of metro and BEST can lead to efficient transport and also the reduction of pollution.

A metro depot will be used for the parking and the maintenance of the trains for safe operations in the entire system. The area will support activities like safety checks, schedule inspection, intermittent overhaul, periodical overhaul, unscheduled repair, and much more. Line 3 is going to be with driverless operations from day one. The Depot and the OCC also has responsibility of operating each & every train

Depot is an essential part of Metro Rail System and without depot, it is impossible to commission safe operations of the system.

The Metro will result in a reduction of C02 emission by 2.61 lakhs tons per year

Why this particular spot at Aarey?

Aarey Colony was selected to construct the metro depot because it is a government land available without any monetary compensation to be paid to anyone now.  The land alternatively suggested at Kanjur is private land, which needs to be acquired if the car shed is to be shifted there.

The cost of acquisition will be Rs. 5,000 crores and time for the same will not be less than three years.  The metro will be ready within one / one and half year and it can’t wait for such car shed land acquisition and then construction. Various options for car depot land including Mumbai University, Dharavi, Race Course, and Nariman point were thoroughly examined by experts in 2013 itself and were not found suitable.

Metro depot needs a land at either end of the corridor to house 55 trains of 8 coaches and the adequate area is required. One cannot have a depot at any ad hoc location.

Pardeshi said that Aarey land is technically, economically, and environmentally also more suitable for the car shed project.

It is surrounded by roads on all 3 sides, JVLR, Marol-Maroshi road and Goregaon Mulund link road, which cuts off this land from the rest of Aarey colony area and makes it easily accessible from the road.

It is also important to note, that only a small part of the entire Aarey lung space is being used for the construction of the Depot.

We understand the immense importance of this crucial lung space in a city like Mumbai. We need more native-trees and not the exotic ones, which eventually cause more harm to the environment.

However, it should also be noted that it is being done to save several thousand lives every year. With the population increasing every day in the city, there is a need for better transport facilities to avoid fatalities.

We neither support nor are against the Metro shed. We want to provide a clear understanding of the issue. We would like to know your thoughts on this. Please share your views in the comments below.

Photos: Aarey Forest| Facebook

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