23 December,2020 10:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Ranjeet Jadhav
Activists say there have been several sightings of leopards inside Aarey Colony. Pic/File
Activists are upset at a state-appointed committee that said last year that Aarey was not a leopard habitat. Its remarks paved the way for clearing over 2,000 trees at the green zone for a Metro car shed.
The contents of a report by the four-member Saunik Committee, now in public domain, have also prompted the activists to believe that it was fed with lies by a senior forest department official.
The Committee formed its opinion on Aarey and big cats based on a letter by the principal chief conservator of forest last October. Activists say they find it difficult to digest considering that Anwar Ahmed, the then director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), was on the panel and it is impossible that he was unaware of leopard sightings at Aarey Colony.
The site for Metro Line-3 carshed has sparked a tussle between the Shiv Sena and the BJP. While the Sena, a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, recently moved the project to Kanjurmarg, the new site has run into legal wrangles, injecting more uncertainties into the Metro project. Sena minister Aaditya Thackeray has repeatedly mentioned the presence of leopards, including the famous Luna, at Aarey.
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Environmentalist Stalin D said the forest department in 2013 had said that Aarey and SGNP had similar biodiversities. "The composition of the Saunik Committee itself was flawed. It was absurd on the part of Anwar Ahmed to dismiss the findings of independent credible researchers."
Citing minutes of a meeting of an expert committee at the Union environment ministry in 2016, activists said seven leopards had been spotted at Aarey. Activist Zoru Bhathena said it was shocking that the forest department changed its stand on leopards at Aarey and "this blind acceptance of such lies shows the true value of the Saunik Committee report".
Jalpesh Mehta of city-based NGO Empower Foundation said the presence of leopards and few endangered species at Aarey is well documented. "We have been a part of leopard rescues along with forest officials at Aarey."
