Aarey: Bollywood, Breaking India Forces and Fake environmentalists have joined hands to starve Mumbai of space

A massive misinformation campaign, on the construction of a metro car depot in Aarey colony of Mumbai, has gripped social media. The MMRC (Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation) has been constructing the Metro Line 3 which will run through Colaba, Bandra and Seepz, and without a metro car shed, this line shall not be functional. The construction of this metro car depot has been cleared by the Supreme Court, however, environmental concerns blown out of proportion and coordinated protests across Mumbai have forced the project to halt when it comes to the construction of the metro car shed. Involved in this campaign are several hypocritical Bollywood celebrities and politicians.

Mumbai is a city that is running out of space, and its public transport systems, which are under immense pressure and near collapse, need a major overhaul to accommodate the transport needs of the people of the city. In such a time, the opposition to the construction of a metro car shed has unveiled the hypocrisy of many Bollywood celebrities and politicians. In what appeared as highly suspicious activity indicative of possibly a paid campaign against the development project, Bollywood celebrities Dia Mirza and Manoj Bajpayee posted the identical tweets within minutes of each other, in protest against the project.

Politicians like Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, and the second in command of the Shiv Sena at the moment, is also part of the campaign to oppose this project in what appears as incredibly hypocritical and misleading behaviour.

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Congress leaders too joined the bandwagon to oppose this development project meant for the public. In the name of saving trees, they aim to halt a metro rail project but celebrities and rich politicians are among the last people that should preach. The posh Royal Palms colony and the Film city near the Aarey Colony have been built by felling of thousands of trees, and it is surprising that the people housed there, or owning property there, have also taken part in the protests against a development project aimed at public welfare. Hypocrisy knows no bounds in this circle of individuals.

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When Amitabh Bachchan wrote subtly in favour of metros he was hounded on social media by protesters. However, it is a rare sighting when a Bollywood star shows concern for the public good rather than selfish personal goals.

The managing director at MMRC, Ashwini Bhide, explains that Aarey Colony is an area of over 1300 hectares out of which 25 hectares of land is required for the metro car depot construction, unlike the deliberately fanned misconception that the entire stretch of land will be used for the metro car shed.

About 2700 trees will be felled for this purpose whereas nearly 460 will be transplanted and over 13000 will be planted. The carbon-dioxide absorption capacity of this stretch is about 80-90 tonnes per year whereas the functional metro would prevent the emission of 2.25 lakh tonnes of the pollutants in a year.

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Nearly 48% of the Metro Line 3 project has been completed and without the metro car depot, it will not be functional. Activists have alleged that the government is not looking for alternatives and suggest an alternative site for construction at Kanjurmarg. However, this piece of land is mired in litigation, and has already been considered and discarded by experts. Despite being given the clear by the Supreme court, these protests threaten to halt a crucial development project that could make life easier for lakhs of commuters in Mumbai who seek public transport and do not have sleek four-wheelers to take them places like many of the celebrities and politicians partaking in this obstructionist, unconstructive, slugfest.