Save Aarey: Activists gather proof of wildlife at Mumbai Metro III site

The environmental dispute over the proposed Metro car shed in Aarey Colony rages on between activists and the Metro authorities which had claimed in an official report that there was ldquono wildliferdquo at the siteWhile MMRCrsquos report stated that leopards merely lsquostrayedrsquo near the Metro yard site in Aarey experts such as ecologist Rajesh Sanap had spotted this leopard about 12 km from the Metro site in Aarey Colony proving that the area is a common haunt for the big catTo contest this claim and prove that wildlife does indeed exist and thrive there activists are now gathering data and photographic evidence of species ndash some rare others more common that have been spotted in the vicinity midday presents a few pictures of wildlife at Aarey that have been taken by citizens and experts and which will now be used to file a public interest litigation against the Metro projectmiddayrsquos report on February 12The Metro lsquoliersquoIt may be recalled that last month activists from the Save Aarey Milk Colony group revealed that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC had sent an Environment Assessment Report EIA for Metro III to the Japan International Cooperation Agency JICA which was to fund the projectThe report prepared by the Rail India Technical and Economic Services RITES categorically stated that there was no wildlife at the yard site in Aarey Colony Section 37 ecology of the report further states ldquoThe project site is located in city area and no wildlife is envisagedrdquo while section 372 reads ldquoMumbai is now so populous and overcrowded that it is no more a congenial home for wild animalsAt present there is no forest in the true sense except the national park at Borivli extending over an area of about 1918 sq km Hence wild life as such is almost extinct from MumbairdquoExperts through this paper had pointed out that the lsquono wildlifersquo claim was extremely misleading as leopards pythons and other animals had been spotted in the vicinity Activists wrote to JICA which is known to be proenvironment and their complaint was accepted by the agency lsquoDid MMRC lie to get R5000 cr loan from Japan for Metrorsquo midday February 12EvidenceIntent on proving that MMRCrsquos claims are incorrect environmentalists and nature lovers are now flooding the authorities with pictures and videos of wildlife at the car depot site and around Ecologists Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza who had conducted an awardwinning biodiversity study in Aarey Colony revealing that it was home to several species ndash have also joined forces with the campaign and have sent in pictures of wildlife spotted by them as wellThe duo and other activists and nature lovers are compiling all the photographs and data so it can be used as evidence in the PIL that is to be filed against the Metro authorities by activists such as AAP member Mona AmbegaonkarldquoIt is shocking to read in the EIA report that there is no wildlife at the site of the car depot Aarey Milk Colony is very rich in its biodiversity and that is the reason Zeeshan Mirza and I were able to discover new species of spiders and tarantulas as well as rediscover some that were thought to be lost to sciencerdquo