Mumbai: Hello, Mr CM, please don't build Metro shed in Aarey, say citizens

Chief Minister Devendra FadnavisChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis phone has been ringing off the hook for the past couple of days with hundreds of citizens calling and texting him to protest the construction of Metro IIIs car shed in the ecologically sensitive Aarey Milk Colony This comes just a week after 25 lakh protestors joined a missed call campaign to save Aarey In the two days since the campaign began on Thursday hundreds of people have sent messages of protest to CM Devendra Fadnavis and other city authorities while 265 people have called on his office landline see boxAlso read Mumbai Over a lakh sign online petition to save Aarey Milk ColonyThousands of trees in Aarey Colony are at the risk of being axedTelephone campaignThe Aarey Conservation Group ACG called for this telephone campaign in collaboration with the online petition platform Jhatkaorg The website circulated messages on WhatsApp appealing to people to call the Chief Ministers Office CMO as well as his official cell phone The organisers similarly circulated the official contact numbers of the suburban collector Deependra Singh as well as managing director of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ashwini BhideWhen I called the landline the person attending to calls sounded highly frustrated He asked me Madam Jhatka kya hain Itne log phone kar rahe hain ki main kaam nahi kar paa raha hoon When I told him that people must be calling to show their support for Aarey he told me to speak to the forest secretary Finally he connected me to the additional chief secretary who in turn asked me to speak to the CMs private secretary said one of the callersYash Marwah from the ACG said In just two days of mobilisation 265 calls have been made to these decision makers and several hundred text messages were sent to them asking them to not cut Aarey forest As of right now all phone lines to the CMs office have been closed We are redirecting calls to Ashwini Bhides private and office numbersWe wont stopMarwah added A member from Aarey Conservation group called the CMOs landline and spoke to a frustrated operator who was inundated with calls the entire day This shows that citizens are ready to engage directly with government officials to protect Mumbais trees They will do whatever it takes to stop Aarey forest from being cut downThe ACG has alleged that Aareys status has been changed from public land to commercial use without due public consultation even though the land falls under the ambit of Sanjay Gandhi National Park The group has filed a case with the National Green Tribunal NGT to contest the change in land useMembers of the ACG told midday that since Friday morning many people had also sent the follwing text message to the CM Dear CM Fadnavis I as a Save Aarey member would like to know why Mumbais Aarey forest land has been converted from public to commercial without following due process Why was the public not consulted before making this change Why Kanjurmarg is not considered as an alternative site where the Metro shed can easily be built I oppose this project in its current form I urge you to make a public statement confirming the sameCity girls campaignThe missed call campaign started last month to save Aarey was floated by Mansi Singh a student from Mumbai Since December the petition has witnessed incredible traction with over 25 lakh people making missed calls to register their protest We cannot afford to lose our cities green cover especially since air pollution in Mumbai hit an alltime high this winter MMRCL is still hell bent on cutting down trees to build a Metro car shed said SinghCall him maybegtgt You can call the Chief Ministers Office on 02233721581 to register your protestgtgt Or sign an online petition at googlhQymWQCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go