The sham called 'Lungs of Mumbai'

One day a monkey was trying to cross a river. It was afraid to go ahead due to the strong flow of the water. It stood there thinking about how to cross the river when suddenly a crocodile came up to the monkey to offer help to cross the river. The monkey agreed, sat on the croc’s back and they both began crossing the river. When they reached the middle, the croc said that it is going to eat the monkey. The croc said it couldn’t resist the thought of eating the tender juicy heart of the monkey. The intelligent monkey said that it had kept its heart on a tree back home and requested the croc to drop the monkey at its home. Upon reaching the river bank, the monkey quickly got off the croc’s back, climbed up the tree, and told the croc that its heart is inside its body and not on the tree. The croc felt like an idiot and returned without prey.

 

 

 

One thing that was bombarded continuously during the protests against Metro Car Depot at Aarey was that the trees in the Aarey colony are the “Lungs of Mumbai”. Cutting them would choke Mumbai. Lungs are very much inside our body and not somewhere in the Aarey colony. The felling of some 2000-plus trees and the construction of a Metro Car Depot won’t kill a Mumbaikar due to lung failure or shortage of oxygen. But the highly emotional phrase called “Lungs of Mumbai” was iterated so many times that the highly emotional youth and other ignorant people took it literally. But you require this highly emotional and Bollywoodish drama to make your protest look authentic.

In November 2019, the new Maha Vikas Aghadi was born to form the new government of Maharashtra. One of the very first decisions it took was to put a stay on the construction of the Metro Car Depot at Aarey colony. The years 2020 and 2021 were marred by the deadly Covid-19 virus. Maharashtra won the gold medal for becoming the state having the highest cases of virus and highest deaths. I am saying gold medal because such a horrible feat was celebrated by the government with high praises for the CM Uddhav Thackeray being the “best CM” or “WHO certified best CM” and what not.

 

 

 

At the start of the year 2021, the second wave of the deadly virus wreaked havoc infecting lakhs and killing thousands of Indians on a daily basis. As usual, Maharashtra was having the highest cases of infection and death. There was a severe shortage of oxygen in the state and the government did very little to overcome the shortage. A few questions one must pose to the politicians and the protestors supporting the bogus “Save Aarey” campaign:

If the lungs of Mumbai are in the Aarey colony, why did thousands of people die in Mumbai due to oxygen shortage?

 

Also Read: Why is Aarey the best choice for Metro Carshed? 

 

The speed at which the MVA government put a stay on the car shed, an important part of the huge metro rail network and “Saved Aarey”, why was the government begging for oxygen from the Union Government when the entire Aarey had the capacity to provide oxygen not only to Mumbai but also to the adjoining areas? Why didn’t a single Save Aarey protestor and idiot Bollywood star ask these questions to the Government? The above questions may sound funny or lunatic, but lunatic protests deserve lunatic questions because citing facts will not have any effect on these fools. These placards and posters holding agenda-driven protests do not do any good for the development of the city and also for the environmental causes. In the same Mumbai, where these ignorant people were doing emotional drama, there’s a lawyer named Afroz Shah. He is known for organizing the world’s largest beach clean-up project when he started cleaning the Versova beach. Soon it became a movement and hundreds of people joined him in this effort. He now has hundreds of volunteers with him, cleaning the beach and the surrounding. Afroz Shah didn’t stand at the Versova beach holding a placard bearing idiotic messages, emotionally fooling people to do the same. He himself started the clean-up drive and did wonders for the environment. He did not have to brand himself as an activist/environmentalist. The United Nations named him a Champion of Earth for leading the clean-up of the Versova beach.

 

Also Read: Save Aarey from environ’mental’ists 

 

In our ancient Puranas, we find the stories of the Mayavi Rakshasas fooling and killing good people by posing themselves as benevolent persons. These local NGOs involved in the Save Aarey protests are the Mayavi Rakshas fooling ignorant people and making them look like idiots holding placards and posters carrying emotional messages. From Narmada Bachao Andolan to Sterlite Plant protests, these modern demons called NGOs have caused huge damage to the development index of India. The Save Aarey and the sham called Lungs of Mumbai is a small protest considering the above two. But it is going to affect the visionary and huge metro project in many ways. The more the delay, the more the costs to complete it. The more the delay, the more the usage of vehicles on the road, thereby increasing the pollution. The more the delay, the more common Mumbaikars fall off an overcrowded local train.

Stay away from these Mayavi Rakshasas of Mumbai. Believing in Save Aarey and the sham called Lungs of Mumbai is a direct contribution to the global issue of Climate Change.