Environmentalists To Hold Protest For Saving Aarey Along With Bharat Yatra By Congress

Mumbai, 1st October 2022: On the lines of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the Mumbai Congress has organized a ‘Bharat Jodo, Nafrat Chodo’ Yatra in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti, Sunday, 2nd October. Aarey conservation group has also decided to participate in this yatra. Environment lovers will also participate in the yatra which will be taken out from August Kranti Maidan to the Gandhi statue near Mantralaya. At the same time, the protest will also be held at Aarey, Picnic Point on Sunday.

The Shinde-Fadnavis government has decided to shift the car shed of Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro 3 from Kanjurmarg and build it again in the Aarey forest. The work has also been started by lifting the moratorium in Aarey. Environmentalists have taken an aggressive stance against this work which is going on with the opposition of environmentalists and residents. A court battle has been started for this. On the other hand, agitation is also being shown. After Shinde-Fadnavis decided to set up a car shed in Aarey, the ‘Save Aarey’ movement is being held every Sunday at the picnic point in Aarey. Accordingly, the ‘Aarey Vachwa’ protest will be held at Picnic Point at 11 am on Sunday. The protest has been going on for the last 14 weeks and the environmentalists have taken a stance that they will not withdraw the protest until the government withdraws its decision.

Amrita Bhattacharya, a member of the Aarey conservation group, informed that “a protest will be held at the picnic point in Aarey and South Mumbai. We will be participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra organized in Mumbai on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti to demand an end to the ongoing environmental degradation in Aarey, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Aravalli, and Hasdev.” Bhattacharya further said that “we will participate in this yatra to protest against the government which is destroying forests in the name of development. I also appeal to the environment-loving Mumbaikars to participate in this yatra.”