A recent report says that Aarey Colony, the green lungs of
Mumbai city will be reduced to just 14% of its current size as a part of the development initiatives. Would the
upcoming educational campuses such as national or state institutes of urban
planning, management studies on Aarey Land be able to teach students
sustainable living, urban planning, environment conservation, ethical industry
practices, moral values and enhanced living on the land where ethnic cleansing
of thousands of trees have taken place? Would the proposed health centres and
sports complexes be able to imbibe healthy lifestyle to the citizens at the
cost of pure oxygenated air that the green cover currently provides? Would
human infiltration by the virtue of proposed theme park further add to encroachment
of remaining 232 hectares of green cover and disturb the natural flora and
fauna with sound pollution at odd hours? Would the green lifeline of Mumbai be garnished with waste accumulation and compromised
sanitation? Why should east west road link and bus transit system that
promise more inter city connectivity not use underutilized areas available within
city and be developed only on this green space? By losing the connectivity with
the nature, we can reach faster to only one destination – death.
and all developments are aimed at improving the life satisfaction index of its
population and thereby raising its happiness quotient. A nation is said to progress when its human
resource has achieved optimum physical, mental and spiritual well being. For the
physical well-being, it is very important that human beings stay closer to
nature. Human heart is designed to rhythm with the rhymes of birds, our eyes
rejuvenate with beautiful flowers, our feet relaxes with the walk on the grass
and our entire body cheers with the pure oxygenated air from the tress. Pure
air from trees helps in increasing oxygen saturation which leads to higher work
output and enhanced productivity of human resource. Besides, giving physical
and mental health, nature contributes immensely towards spiritual growth.
resource of the country which acts as income generation for the government. Development does not mean increasing consumerism which enables ROI on FDIs. If the
development of a city or a nation is not able to raise the happiness quotient
of its population, it is futile. This explains why some of the most developed countries
have high incidences of depression and mental illnesses. Happiness is possible
only with sustainable development where there is enhanced interaction between
man and his source of existence- nature.
open space infrastructure modelled around New York’s Central Park and London’s
Hyde Park. According to the data from World Health Organization, Mumbai ranks very
low compared to NewYork & London in terms of air quality, sanitation, waste
management, green space and parks. Everything from emissions control, urban ecology to environmental stewardship,
cities across the country are far ahead of Mumbai with their elected officials
and business leaders taking strong action towards making the quality of life sustainable
and worthwhile. In order to make Mumbai
on par with other international cities, there are many strategic initiatives
that government should focus like resource conservation, waste management, modern
& sustainable infrastructure development, sanitation, water conservation, improving
air quality, cultural development, optimizing transport system and lots more than
wasting resources on massacring the green space at Aarey Colony.
activities to flourish. Nature is the breeding ground for art and culture. It
has inspired artists, poets, musicians, painters, alike. Festivals across the
globe are associated with nature. No cultural activities can ensue at the site where
ruthless annihilation of nature has taken place.
nothing but potential profit opportunities for a few which are well camouflaged
under the pretext of public interest and development. In the age of sustainable
living where everything from manufacturing to consumption is going sustainable,
this large scale slaughter of barely available green land in the city is anti development.
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