She is someone who cannot speak for herself, yet is sentenced to death.
She is the tree from Aarey Milk Colony.
Aarey Milk Colony is one of the last remaining green spaces in Mumbai. Situated in Goregaon East, it covers an area of 3160 acres. Some of that land has been earmarked by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) for the construction of a 28 hectare metro car shed. One most unfortunate consequence will be the uprooting of 2,298 trees. Apparently, according to the MMRDA, 2,044 of the trees con be transplanted, and the actual loss will be 254 trees.
Image Courtesy: saveaarey.org
Aarey is an old favourite Mumbai picnic spot full of gardens and nurseries. 16,000 cattle are reared on its 1,287 hectares, and more than 76 species of birds, 86 species of butterflies, and nearly 100 other species of animals call Aarey their home. But this could all soon change if the MMRC plan materialises.
Image courtesy: saveaarey.org / Rajesh Kotawedkar
Thankfully, a few concerned Mumbaikars are trying everything possible to prevent this damage. They say, “We are not against development but against unplanned development.”
The campaign is getting stronger by the day. To get their point across and save Aarey, the group has launched an interesting initiative, #RakhisFromAarey. Each rakhi is from a tree that the authories plan to bring down.
Image courtesy: facebook/rakhisfromaarey
The team has already sent out over 2000 rakhis to influential people like Narendra Modi, celebrities like Amitabh Bachhan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vishal Dadlani, and all the major media channels. Some celebrities have expressed their support for the campaign by accepting the rakhi. This list includes Ranbir Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Shraddha Kapoor and Sushant Singh Rajput.
Image courtesy: facebook/rakhisfromaarey
The Rakhis From Aarey team has also designed some innovative audio letters and placed them on the trees. These audio letters tell people about the plight of trees and what they have to say.
Image courtesy: facebook/rakhisfromaarey
But it’s not just the citizens of Mumbai who can fight for these trees. If you too feel strongly about the cause, just log on to their website to protect and save the trees. They need your help badly!
facebook/rakhisfromaarey
All of us in India know that rakhis are a powerful symbol, a silent promise that you will protect those who need protection the most. So here are the trees of Aarey Milk Colony, the weakest amongst us all, asking you to accept their rakhi. The question is, will you?
