The ongoing construction of an underground Mumbai Metro project, stretching for 33.5 km under one of the world's most congested coastal cities, has been hailed as an engineering marvel. Just a couple of weeks after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had praised Mumbaikars for taking in their stride the inconveniences caused by the project, thousands of citizens, including activists, actors and politicians, participated in mass protests held in the suburbs and the city's iconic Marine Drive seafront.

They were protesting the August 29 clearance given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Tree Authority to fell and transplant 2,646 trees. The authority allowed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), which operates directly under CM Fadnavis, to locate a key part of the project within the Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon (East).

The Milk Colony, an erstwhile government-owned dairy farm, sprawls over 1,278 ha in the city's suburbs and is Mumbai's second largest green cover after the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

The northern end of the Line 3 of the Mumbai metro, which will link Colaba, the city's southern tip, with the Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ), a special economic zone in the western suburb, is located in Aarey. The MMRCL has earmarked 30 ha, or two per cent, of Aarey Colony land, for a 'car shed'-a Rs 900 crore centre above the ground that will monitor and control all metro operations once the project is completed by the end of 2021.

Around 75 lakh people-more than the entire population of a country like Bulgaria-travel in Mumbai's local trains each day. The fully air-conditioned metro cars will ferry 13.9 lakh passengers daily, easing the load on one of the world's largest, most densely congested railway lines.

However, protestors argue that the trees are equally important to the city's well being. The car shed, they claim, will turn Aarey's pristine forest into a commercial hub and the immediate impact will be felt on the catchment area of the Mithi river flowing nearby, which could potentially flood the Mumbai airport.

Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor protests against the BMC tree authority's approval of uprooting 2700 trees from 'Aarey Forest', in Mumbai. (Photo:ANI)

The protests had begun with environmental activist Zoru Bhathena filing a petition in the Bombay High Court on September 2, citing improprieties in the BMC Tree Authority granting clearances to the MMRCL proposal. They gained more traction with environmental activist Stalin D., Bollywood actors Shraddha Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and singer Lata Mangeshkar joining in. The dormant 'Save Aarey' campaign, initially launched four years ago protesting this exact move, had been resurrected.

Now, with the children of two prominent state politicians-Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray-on opposing sides having joined in, the issue has become a political one and will likely be a major campaign issue in next month's Assembly Elections. Pawar's daughter, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule, warned of the dangers to Aarey, a picnic spot she visited with her family during her childhood, while Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray at a September 10 press conference said: "We will not allow the car shed to come up in Aarey at any cost The government is threatening the court and the Mumbaikars by saying that it will not construct the car shed anywhere except Aarey."

According to MMRCL Managing Director Ashwini Bhide, the number of trees that they have proposed be felled are just a fraction of Aarey's 4.8 lakh trees. Adding that the tree cover in Aarey exists in only 17 per cent of the land, Bhide said that the benefits of the Metro far outweigh the number of trees it will remove and that seven days of Metro operation will cut an amount of CO2 equivalent to that absorbed by 2,646 trees in a single year.

In October last year, the Bombay High Court had cleared the land-use conversion allowing the project. The court accepted the state government's argument that the land will not be used for any commercial project and a monitoring and supervising mechanism would be in place to ensure that the conditions imposed on the MMRCL are met.

Moreover, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had also refused to name the area as a forest.

Activists, however, want the government to shift the car shed to Kanjurmarg, 7.5 km to the east of the current site, near the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, so that there will be minimum impact on the environment. The MMRCL disagrees. Its officials point out that Aarey is the most suitable place to ensure Metro's smooth operation. It is bound on three sides by major roads-the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, Marol-Maroshi road and Goregaon-Mulund Link Road-making it easily accessible. Also, the government will not have to pay any compensation for rehabilitation of the residents as it already occupies the Aarey land.

Plus, the 41 ha the activists are pointing to in Kanjurmarg, says Bhide, has been under litigation since 1997 and the Bombay High Court has stayed any activity there. In a largely circulated message, she tried to put the facts together.

The message reads: "The government pleaded the High Court to revoke the stay only for the 41 hectares keeping in mind importance of the project. The HC asked the MMRCL to pay Rs 2,600 crore, value of the land. As that much money was not available and construction of 10 km line would have added to the cost, the MMRCL moved to the modified plan of having the car shed in Aarey".

The MMRCL has proposed that it will plant six trees for every tree cut in Aarey and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sanjay Gandhi National Park for planting 23,846 trees. BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, also a director of MMRCL, says that Metro 3 would help reduce CO2 emissions and cites a report by the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC), which says that about 2.61 metric tonnes of CO2 will be reduced once Metro 3 will be operational.

Bathena, however, is in no mood and doesn't trust the MMRCL. He points that most of the trees transplanted by the MMRCL till now are dying and says the ecological cost of one tree is Rs 23,000 per year. The total cost of trees to be cut in Aarey then exceeds Rs 3,500 crore. "While discussing cost escalation due to shifting of car shed, we also need to look at environmental damage which is irreparable," he says. Clearly, neither he, nor the government is willing to budge.

ALSO READ | Woman gives birth on state highway after ambulance fails to arrive

ALSO WATCH | Woman gives birth through transplanted womb