8.61 kms in Aarey Forest

 

8.61 kms long run in the Aarey Forest. Going to Aarey after a long time, about a year or more perhaps, and well worth the run, because Aarey is tough, full of hills and you get pure oxygen inside the forest. The roads are in a pathetic state though, don't know why the government is not repairing them. Its full of potholes all over and many places there are no roads at all. Very bad governance by whoever is responsible for it. 

12.03 kms in Aarey Forest

A 12.03 kms run in Aarey Forest on 28th October (posting late). Going to Aarey after a long time, so it was quite tough, but weather was very pleasant. No plan on any distances, but felt good so kept on running all the flat surfaces in Aarey (did not want to do too many hills). Aarey Forest is beautiful, a heaven in a mega city. Pity that the Chief Minister wants to destroy this beautiful forest for his stupid metro car shed project.

Aarey Forest

Running inside Aarey Forest after quite a while, so was struggling with the inclines, plus was running with couple of friends, that is why you see the zigzag which is for the walking breaks in between. Despite the scorching October heat in Mumbai, temps were much cooler inside the forest. Makes sense to have a forest in the middle of the city instead of the crazy idea of the government to kill the forest to make way for a metro car shed. Horrible idea that is.

Save Aarey Forest

Mumbai, this is your chance to stand up for Aarey forest. Come with your objections and submit them , take individual letters, take individual acknowledgement for your submission. No point in online anger, express your views and opposition in person. Stand up and be counted on 10 th October at 2_30 PM at the Garden superintendent office at Byculla Zoo. It's now or never. Please SHARE WIDELY

Save Aarey Forest

For those who came in late

Mumbai’s lush green Aarey Forest is under threat due to various development projects – the foremost being the cutting of 3,500 trees for the construction of a car shed for the upcoming Mumbai Metro 3. Activists along with actors and artists and many others have been petitioning CM Devendra Fadnavis to relocate the car shed to another area and help Mumbai retain its green space.

However, a lot of people are misunderstanding that we are against the Mumbai metro and the government. What we are against is a lack of conversation and transparency from the government. Here is a quick fact check.

1. Are we against the metro?

NO. We are against the cutting of 3,500 trees for the metro car shed. This is where the parking of the trains will be done. It’s alarming why the trains will be parked in the middle of a forest at the cost of thousands of trees. Also, the idea of a Metro Station at Aarey is purely ridiculous, because there are hardly any people living there! The government added this station so that it can build commercial activities around it in the future. To put this in perspective, have you ever imagined trains being parked in New York’s Central Park or a train station inside the park built after cutting its trees? It’s the green lung of New York and the government does every bit to save it. So why can’t we?�� In fact, Mumbai might need 10 lines of metro in the future, but if we don’t stand up to the cutting of trees right now, there wont be any green patch left for Mumbaikars in the future. It’s not development, it’s suicide.

2. We all need a Metro. Trees jaaye bhaad mein. (To hell with the trees.) They will grow again.

There are seven options of land available to the government where there is Barren land to build this parking shed and station WITHOUT cutting trees. Still, it has chosen Aarey Forest – the only remaining lungs of Mumbai! The reason? Shh… Shhh… Smelling a rat here?

The 3,500 trees will not grow again, but there is a chance the government will cut more trees again. It already has a lot of commercial projects lined up after the trees are cut, including a zoo. Yes, a fuckin’ zoo in the middle of a forest. Not just a zoo, about 100 hectares of land for a rehabilitation township is reserved in Aarey. So, it does not stop at the metro shed! Remember the full-page ads run by the MMRCL in every leading newspaper in Mumbai and Gujarat some months ago for the metro? It claimed no commercial activity will be planned in Aarey, then why make a metro station in Aarey? Daal mein kuch kaala hai? (Is there something fishy?) Has the Indian population ever held any politician to his word? Fadnavis knows like every other politician that public memory is short and people don't care if they are swindled.

3. But the government is replanting trees, what’s your problem buddy?

So, it basically wants to cut what is 100 years old and then replant a sapling, which might give enough oxygen to save a dying Mumbai after 100 years. Excellent! It’s like removing all the old politicians from this country overnight, and putting toddlers in charge of the country. (I believe they will govern better though.)

4. Are we anti-BJP? Is there any political party involved in this?

NO. We are a volunteer group of students, artists, painters, actors, musicians, CEOs, Dalits, Adivasis, Dabbawalas, farmers – trying to make sense of this horrible idea of destroying a forest for a parking shed for a train. Whether the ruling party was BJP, Congress, AAP or any other, we would have still done this protest as we need air to breathe. PM Narendra Modi gave a speech on World Environment Day, that destruction of nature at the cost of development is dangerous and the citizens should stand against it. We are just doing that. We believe anybody who is not following this should be held accountable. Looking at what’s happening in Delhi with the toxic air (the city does not have a forest to save itself), it’s important to raise our voice NOW to save Aarey.

5 Aarey is not a forest, it’s a milk colony.

Have you been to Aarey and explored it? Dont get fooled by its area. It works, thrives and survives as a forest. It has more than 5 lakh trees, an active ecosystem, rare birds, animals, its own lakes, farms, and its own community of people. Also, have you ever seen leopards and snakes in other parks before? The forest department is deliberately concealing information and altering the facts since some time now. Almost 30% of this space has already been given for commercial projects that we know of, like for Film City, Royal Palms etc. The metro is a step towards allocating more and more land for profit.

6. If it has 5 lakh trees, cutting of 3,500 trees will make no difference. Its only 1%!

What happens if you lose an eye? Or a finger? It was easy for Dronacharya to screw Eklavya’s life by taking his shooting thumb. These 3,500 trees are that thumb. The epicentre of the earthquake in Gujarat was in Kutch, but buildings collapsed in Ahmedabad, 500 km away. Do you need more metaphors? It’s not only trees that are cut – it’s the birds, animals, surroundings, and the total ecosystem. It will be a chain reaction so horrible for this already struggling city. This will surely be the tipping point.

7. Is the government ready for a conversation? It must have valid reasons to cut Aarey, right?

NOT YET. All we are asking for is a conversation with the government, BMC, MMRCL, CM and ask them WHY Aarey?? Till now even after almost 500 days of asking the question and inviting the CM to have a conversation with us, we have heard no answers from the authorities. We understand why, as they do not have a justified answer! Why would they choose Aarey over 7 other places? WE DONT KNOW YET.

8 Are we funded by political parties opposing the BJP?
On the contrary every political party which said it stood with the citizens in their fight has deserted the cause. Citizens have contributed in every small way to raise money to save Mumbai's last remaining green space. We can barely afford the litigations cost and the lawyers who are fighting it are doing so because they too feel it is a noble cause unlike MMRCL and the Govt which engage high profile lawyers who are known to charge 11 (Eleven ) Lakhs per appearance . We do not have access to unlimited public funds to squander away to cover up illegalities.
If you cannot align with the selfless battle the citizens are engaged in, the least you can do is not malign them.
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#SaveAareyForest #weneedaarey #mumbaineedsAarey #AareyforMumbai#greenlungofmumbai

11.40 kms in Aarey Forest

11.40 kms in Aarey Forest, Mumbai. Weather inside the forest is at least 3 to 4 degrees lower than on the outside. Beautiful trees, fresh oxygen, serene atmosphere, chirping birds, buzzing insects, winding roads, nature at its very best. Don't know why these morons want to destroy such a beautiful forest for the purpose of their ill planned metro car shed, when there is so much land available at other place like in Kanjur Marg, plus Indian Railways has so much unutilised land. Politicians are destroying this country. 

11.24 kms Aarey

11.24 kms in Aarey Forest, Mumbai. Took the regular unit no. 16 and the Aarey Guest House and also added the Diary road today. Weather in Aarey was absolutely humid with not a hint of breeze whatsoever. Aarey Forest is such a beautiful place, an oasis in the bustling city of Mumbai, a paradise of sorts. Don't understand government apathy in destroying such a beautiful natural eco system which is virtually the lungs of Mumbai. Especially when there are alternative sites for construction of the metro car shed government insistence on destroying aarey forest is nothing short of arrogance and cruelty. Cruelty it is to the thousands of birds, insects etc. residing in this beautiful forest. Every time you go to Aarey Forest you feel so refreshed, it is the pure oxygen which is the hallmark of this place. I suspect there is corruption and greed in commercially exploiting this pristine piece of nature.  

2.45 hours Feet on the Street

Had been doing 2.30 hours run on two consecutive sundays - 2.27 being the half marathon race at Hyderabad on August 28 followed by a 2.30 hour run last sunday at the Bandra-NCPA group run. So, decided this run today would be a 2.15 hour run in preparation for next sunday i.e september 18, kaveri trail half marathon. There are so many group runs going on nowadays in Mumbai that it is getting difficult to say no to friends. That being the case set out on a 2.15 hour feet on the street run today at Aarey Forest. The weather was quite good in the early morning with some welcome showers also in between. Navigated the hill first itself and thereafter it was rolling hills all the way. Found Hemant at about 3 kms into the run and he decided to stick with me. True friend that he is, we both stayed together until almost the very last. He was doing a 3 hour run and going very steady, neither too fast or too slow, good rhythmic pace! We decided to stick to the flats rather than go for the hills so set about discovering new routes. We did find one towards the Aarey Diary which was a good road, nice overflowing tree cover and latter part it sloped downwards. Once we hit the main road, the roads were pathetic. 1.30 hour done i took a 5 min walking break and then around 2 hour mark,we came across a shop - quickly purchased one litre of cold water and refilled our bottles as well as drank some and splashed some on the head, face. 2.20 hours done the sun was out now, but not too difficult to run. Hemant left me at this stage as his car was parked up the hill and his route to the top would take him to 3 hours. I decided to go uptp 2.45 hours, but the last 20 minutes was like difficult. Perhaps running alone at this stage was the factor. Took about 3 minutes walk here and crawled to the 2.45 hours mark. Did not get a rickshaw so had to walk another 1.8 kms before i got another bottle of water, took rickshaw and went home.

44 kms week ending 8th may 2011

completed 44 kms for the week ending 8th may 2011 including a 22.5 kms on saturday at the aarey forest followed up with a recovery run of 10 kms on sunday at marine drive. Two earlier runs of 4kms & 7.5 kms on wednesday and thursday. aarey forest run was a staggering one in extreme humidity and heat which had me roasted almost. marine drive was also extremely humid even as early as 5.30 in the morning, possibly to due the arabian sea.

jan 8/9th weekend

Completed about 10.5 kms in a chillingly cold and almost freezing conditions in the dense aarey forest on saturday, 8th january 2011 - later it was reported that it was the season's coldest day at 12.4 degrees centigrade. went for an intense yoga session conducted by trained yoga teacher and a runner herself Suchita on sunday at the nike run club - large contingent of runners gathered on both days - it was rocking run - later had breakfast at kyanis place near metro cinema - little regret at not having a go at another run today i.e. sunday at mahalakshmi where the guys were literally scorching the tracks there.

LSD at Aarey, saturday, 8th may 2010

Did an easy run of 10 kms today at Aarey Forest in a time of 69.04 minutes. The hills at Aarey are tough, tough and it keeps coming one after another.