​Residents plan to save Belapur hill with Chipko movement

NAVI MUMBAI: Residents of Belapur’s Sector 8 B, along with activists of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), are planning to organize a Chipko movement in order to protect the forested Belapur hill.
On Sunday, TOI reported about encroachers excavating parts of this green zone and setting the trees on fire to create more space.
On Tuesday, AAP members and residents visited the Cidco office of Controller of Unauthorized Structures to inform officials about yet another forest fire on the hill.“We will not allow such blatant destruction of a green hill. If need arises, the people will organize a Chipko movement, on the lines of the Uttarakhand protest, to save trees and the hill here,” said AAP district convenor Ravi Srivastava.
On March 10, another Belapur resident, Aditi Lahiri, lodged a complaint at the CBD police station about reckless destruction of the flora and fauna on this hill, which is a restricted area.
“We suspect that land sharks are trying to take over this hill and build illegal structures here as real estate rates are soaring in Navi Mumbai. Such deliberate fires and hill-cutting cannot take place without the collusion of some local politicans. We will file applications under the Right To Information Act and complain to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in this regard,” added Srivastava.