Clara LewisMumbai: City environmentalists and activists have taken strong objection to the proposal by a BJP worker to rename Sanjay Gandhi National Park as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Park (ABVP) by dropping the word “national” and to build an integrated township and a university inside the park.Activists alleged there is a pattern to the development-led destruction of the national park, with the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road passing under the national park hills, the Borivli-Thane underground tunnel passing through the forest, the displacement of tribals both from the SGNP and the zonal master plan allowing construction in the eco-sensitive zone around the park.Aarey Conservation Group member and activist Amrita Bhattacharjee said mindless concretisation of the city has left citizens to deal with numerous environmental issues. “The city has become a heat island – summers are sizzling, monsoon brings frequent flooding, and winters makes us gasp for clean air. Citizens must strongly object to the govt’s attempts to further dilute and destroy our national park,” she said.Sumaira Abdulali, convenor of Awaaz Foundation said, “It is a very well-orchestrated plan at the highest level to develop each and every parcel of land. Govt needs to reconsider as the SGNP is a source of national pride, being the only one of its kind in the world.”Environmentalist and founder of Conservation Action Trust Debi Goenka said he is not opposed to the name ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee’, but the dropping of the word ‘national’ is unacceptable. “A park does not need to be named after anybody like the Tadoba Wildlife Sanctuary, the Pench Tiger Reserve. None of our politicians seem to care, and bureaucrats do not dare to tell them about the destruction. These are misplaced priorities. The govt really seems unaware of the ill- effects of heat wave aggravated by indiscriminate tree cutting. At the end of the day, it is the people who suffer,” he said. Goenka said Mumbaikars must protest tooth and nail, write letters and emails to the Prime Minister, protest on social media and question the govt’s priorities.
