Kangana criticises Aarey metro car shed scrapping for ‘a few fancy activists’

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has slammed the scrapping of the Aarey metro car shed, saying that “stopping urbanisation” to suit the agendas of the powerful is not the solution.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that 800 acres of Aarey has been declared a reserve forest and the construction of the metro car shed project here will be stopped following protests by environmental groups and citizens over the felling of trees in Aarey Milk Colony. He said that the project will be shifted to Kanjurmarg.

Following the CM’s announcement, Kangana took to Twitter to react to a news article which stated that other actors in the film industry, including Shraddha Kapoor and Dia Mirza, called the scrapping of the metro car shed a “huge win”.

“First world problems of a few fancy activists are not #Mumbaikars problems, last year I planted more than one Lakh saplings, not cutting trees is good but stopping urbanisation only to suit powerful and wealthy’s agendas is not the solution but part of the problem,” Kangana tweeted.

The National Award winning actor and the Maharashtra government have been involved in an unpleasant standoff since the last few months. Kangana and the Shiv Sena have been engaged in a war of words after the actor compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had also demolished alleged alteration to her property in the city.

Aarey is one of the last remaining green spaces in Mumbai, with around five lakh trees in the area, which houses a variety of fauna and flora. Several environmental activists and citizens, including Bollywood actors and other celebrities, had protested the then BJP government’s decision to raze the land and cut down over 2,000 trees to build the shed.

After the Bombay High Court refused to declare Aarey a forest and quash the decision to cut down the trees, several trees were cut in the middle of the night with bulldozers leading to widespread protest from activists.

While announcing the shifting of the metro car shed, the chief minister said that the police cases filed against protesters then would be withdrawn. He added that the project would be shifted to the new location without additional costs.

Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray, who had also protested against the felling of trees in Aarey, tweeted, “Aarey Saved!”