Mumbai’s Aarey Flooded For the 1st Time

Cow sheds at Mumbai’s Aarey Colony were flooded for the first time this Monsoon due to walls built on both sides of Mithi and Oshiwara rivers, environmentalists claimed. They also filed a complaint with the state government asking for taking down the walls that were allegedly responsible for choking rivers’ floodplains. “The walls are not needed on riversides inside Aarey and its only purpose is to dry up and create land for construction. This will eventually kill and degrade the forests,” said Stalin D, director, Vanashakti Environment group. He added that even the 32-storey Metro Bhavan was coming up on one side of the wall. The BMC built the 20-metre wall along Oshiwara at Walbut Nullah in 2018 as part of a ‘beautification work’ that it claimed would not affect the river’s natural flow and was constructed specifically for flood control. The site was selected by the BMC after a bridge collapsed during the Monsoon in September 2017. Stalin added that the forests of Aarey were closely linked with both Mithi and Oshiwara rivers and were interdependent on each other for their survival. “We have thus requested the removal of the walls immediately and also issue orders to revive the river regulation zone (RRZ) policy–to safeguard rivers-- scrapped by the previous government,” he said. Meanwhile, the issue of the walls along the Mithi river, built by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is already sub judice before the Supreme Court. Vanshakti’s complaint further highlighted a 2019 report by a committee appointed by the SC that recommended the removal of the Mithir river wall from Aarey.