The recent tragic event of the Mumbai forest fires where almost 1/3rd of the forest land got burnt away is something that is a subject of much talk.

On Monday, 3rd December 2018, around 6.30 pm, a fire broke out in the Aarey Colony, near the Infinity IT park in Goregaon (East), Dindoshi, Mumbai.

The fire mainly started from the small hill that was surrounded by the MHADA colonies and the forest on either of its sides and spread to almost 3 to 4 kilometers with it finally being controlled by the fire department at around 10.30 pm in the night.

As per reports, the fire quickly increased in intensity so much so that by 8 pm the Mumbai Fire Brigade called it a Level 3 fire. P Rahangdale the Chief Fire Officer stated that, “When it originated, it was near the Film City area, but spread towards the city within three hours.”

The fire eventually spread to the Dindoshi Green Hill Society and new MHADA colony in Goregaon and the matter was not helped by the winds coming from the hill that spread the fire to nearby residential areas.

What Happened?

The Aarey Colony in Mumbai is a land stretching across 12km with about 12 villages inhabiting it.

Initially only about 4 fire engines, 3 water tankers and 3 quick response vehicles were dispatched to the place of fire.

However it was eventually increased to almost ten fire engines and seven jumbo water tankers with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informing the local police stations to evacuate all the tribals and animals from forest area.

The fire was active for almost 4 hours and even till now, the cause of the fire has not been revealed. Civilians in the city could see the fire from as far as the Western Express Highway.

Controlling the fire was made further difficult due to the fact that fire engines could not navigate through the thick forest area and so fire fighters and fire beaters had to go on foot to douse the fire.

As per reports, for the most part, the fire remained confined to trees and dry leaves with no causalities reported till now. The forest though is said to be in a bad state with it incurring heavy damage.

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Is It A Conspiracy?

There are some people who are claiming it to be a conspiracy whether by the government or some other party, to clear the land without it seeming suspicious and then sell it to developers.

Zoru Bhathena an activist has commented that, “Although there might be no human casualties but there might be a huge green cover loss. Also, it is likely that there may be many animals and birds stuck in the forest fire. The cause also needs to get investigated as it may be an attempt to encroach the land by later claiming it to be a barren land.”

Another environmentalist, Stalin D, from Vanashakti an NGO has said that, “Every year, the forest area at Dindoshi is set on fire. This land has been constantly neglected and the authorities have refused to intervene. It looks like a conspiracy to hand over the forest mountain to developers.”

YouTuber and political, social activist Dhruv Rathee, also posted about this fire on his Facebook page:

The forest which mumbaikers were fighting to save from deforestation is now burnt in flames..How convenient!#TheyBurntAareyDown ? Dhruv Rathee यांनी वर पोस्ट केले सोमवार, ३ डिसेंबर, २०१८

Some of the comments clearly show the skepticism and anger of people with this fire and how this is a very wrong thing to happen:

Not just Facebook, this anger and clear pointing to how this seems to be a conspiracy to clear the land and not a natural calamity is there on other platforms as well.

'Is this forest fire natural or caused to clear the land for Industrial purposes? So dream of making metro shed comes true? Getting rid of leopards trees and all wildlife? But this fire will not stop burning in our hearts." #Mumbai come forward

Save animals#IndiaGreenWild pic.twitter.com/SyCAaIn6Mk — IndiaGreenWild (@IndiaGreenWild) December 3, 2018

#Aareyforest #Mumbai ..under fire. D same #Aarey that we all r trying to protect from various vested parties. Now it's burning for the alleged cause of Fire. "natural calamity" Appeal to Save flora & fauna. Save all animals & not only humans…@rubenmasc @zoru75 @PreetiSMenon pic.twitter.com/fBE1uBdkdU — Rakesh K Singh (@advocaterakesh9) December 3, 2018

We are deeply concerned/disturbed about lack of will 2 safeguard unique 3100 acre #Urbanforest in the world. It looks conspicuously deliberate an attempt to have caused fire in #Aarey 4 vested interest. @AIPCMaha will fight to protect #Aarey. @JhaSanjayhttps://t.co/kItXIscDFT — Mathew Antony (@mathewmantony) December 3, 2018

By hook or crook this is the take over of Aarey by humans ,burn the vegetation kill the animals and behold land worth crores up for grabs — Jay (@jmaverick320) December 3, 2018

Omg it's a Big Conspiracy..as I saw on Sunday morning when we went aarey for tree walk we saw many places dry leaves etc was burnt to get rid of it..they burn n leave it unattended which spreads n turns in big fire.n its was being done by Cleaning workers there. See pic n video. pic.twitter.com/s97UVLrnZC — @PotholeWarriors 🇮🇳 #ReportPotholes #SaveLifes🛣 (@PotholeWarriors) December 3, 2018

What do you think? Is it actually just a coincidence that such a massive fire broke out, or are there ulterior motives behind it?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: Hindustan Times, NDTV, The Indian Express

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