Mumbai: In order to introduce slum rehabilitation projects in Aarey Milk Colony, the state government has made new changes in land use at different locations. While the rehabilitation area for slum dwellers from Sanjay Gandhi National Park will be designated as a residential zone, the Urban Development Department has also introduced an industrial area at the site, according to the new notification.
The land use in Aarey Milk Colony, known as the city’s green lung, was sanctioned last Friday. The notification stated that the film studio site in the village Kondivita and the said land was proposed to be included as an ‘industrial zone’ in the new development zone. While Aarey had been marked a green zone, the commercial use inside the colony had been strongly opposed by citizens and environmentalists, more so after the introduction of the car shed for metro line three.
While the notification also stated that some portions had been reserved for the cemetery, zoo and some would be used for rehabilitation and resettlement, the latter would be included in the “residential zone”. Meanwhile, the area of electric transmission and distribution facility was designated as “commercial zone”. An official from the Urban Development Department said, “We have largely marked the Aarey Colony as a green zone to leave the colony as it is and prevent further development in this green space.”
Stalin Dayanand, project director, Vanashakti, said, “Earlier, it was only the metro car shed that was proposed in Aarey Colony. Now, little by little, the state is changing land use in Aarey when the entire area is an eco-sensitive zone. The government should refrain from making such changes in land use.”
The NGO has filed petition in the Bombay high court challenging the state government’s decision to remove No-Development Zone in 33 hectares of Aarey Colony for the construction of metro car shed, citing that the earlier National Green Tribunal’s order has directed that the entire Aarey is an ESZ area.
