A day after a massive fire broke out in the forest area near Aarey Colony in Goregaon on Monday, environmentalists and activists said that it was started deliberately to prevent vegetation from growing on the land and make the area available for commercial purposes.
The fire started at 6.21 p.m. near an IT park close to Gokuldham Society and was declared a Level III emergency by 8 p.m. It was doused with beaters as the steep terrain made it difficult for fire-fighters to reach the spot with their equipment.
Mumbai 04/12/2018: Barren hill seen day after forest fire at the land where fire broke out yesterday late eveing at SGNP near Aarey Colony in Jogeshwari on Tuesday. Photo:Prashant Waydande.
‘Collective failure’
Environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal said, “This is a collective failure on the part of the activists and the entire population of Mumbai. This has been happening because the organisations concerned for environment protection are not taking the required steps. The fact that organisations like The Bombay Natural History Society and the World Wide Fund for Nature are not stepping in means they are only doing what the establishment wants. It is a city of millions of people and yet no one comes forward to save the environment.”
Residents of the area said that the fire was not an one-off incident, and such fires occur in the area every year. Sandeep Sawant, a local resident, said, “For the last 10 to 15 years, every time the land becomes dry after the monsoon, it is set on fire by certain elements. Only this time, it spread to a wider area and was noticed by the media.”
Mr. Aggarwal said, “The fire occurs in the same area every year. This clearly indicates it is not a natural phenomenon. There are people who do not want the forest to grow so that the land cannot be labelled as a forest and can be used for commercial purposes when needed.”
‘Real estate lobby’
Stalin D., director of non-governmental organisation Vanshakti, said that such fires were started to benefit the real estate lobby. He said, “Authorities have been deliberately ignoring the damage done to the environment, the wildlife and the ecology. The pollution caused by the fire can also severely affect the local air quality and compromise the health of the residents of the area.”
