Rotary Club of Bombay West, a
leading Rotary Club of RI District 3141, lead hosted a District Seminar on METRO & AAREY – Making a Difference to
the Environment at Rotary Service Centre, Juhu on 1st Nov 2019.
Among the keynote speakers at the
Seminar was none other than Mrs.Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director of Mumbai
Metro Rail Corporation Limited which is building the Metro Line 3 and proposing
to have its car shed in land allotted at Aarey in Goregaon. The other keynote speaker was Mr.Mayank
Gandhi, a well-known Social Activist.
The Seminar was followed by a Panel Discussion with Mr.Bharat Dabholkar,
Mr.Hussain Indorewala, Mrs.Sandra Shroff and Mrs.Tejaswini Kolhapure as Panel
Members. Panel discussion was moderated
by Mr.Gopal Jhaveri.
Mrs.Bhide made a fact-filled
presentation to the 200+ strong audience comprising of Rotarians, Rotaractors
and general public, highlighting the importance of the Metro Network for Mumbai
Metropolis, the immense benefits to the environment and justifying the location
of car shed at Aarey. A very convincing
presentation followed by responses to the questions in a calm and composed
manner by Mrs.Bhide was applauded by the audience, though a small group of
activists attending the event were not aligned with the information and views
expressed by her.
Mr.Mayank Gandhi said he was
himself very much against a single tree being sacrificed in the name of the
development. However, he said we need to
appreciate the democratic process of the country, accept the decision of the
judiciary and move forward. The best way
to heal the injury caused by knocking of a few thousand trees was to grow more
trees. He announced his commitment to
grow one crore trees in Maharashtra, including around one million in Mumbai
City.
Rtn.Rajendra Agarwal, District
Governor Nominee, the Chief Guest at the event while addressing the gathering,
highlighted the tremendous amount of work being done by Rotararians in Mumbai
and elsewhere in India and abroad. He
said Rotary was open to partnerships with Corporates, Government or NGOs to
take up projects beneficial to the environment.
Earlier, Rtn.Samapti Patel welcomed the guests by offering them cute
planters – a green initiative which has replaced the traditional gifts /
flowers.
The Seminar was organized by the
District Non-Medical III (Environment) Team led by Avenue Chairs Rtn.Dr.Ashok
Kothari and Rtn.Vanamali Ramaswami, with Rtn.Anand Gupta, District Chair,
taking the lead as the Convenor. During
his year as President of Rotary Club of Bombay West, he had successfully
implemented Project GreenEARTH where trees were planted to celebrate birthdays
and anniversaries of members and spouses.
He had also launched a campaign to opt for eco-friendly cremation to
save 85 lakh trees annually which are cut to feed the wood-based crematoriums. For
the first time in history of RC of Bombay West, the event was streamed live on
its Face Book Page by Rtn.Yazdi Tantra.
The District Avenue Team was
well-supported by the organizing committee of RC Bombay West. The event was co-hosted by Rotary Clubs of
Bombay Banda, Bombay Powai, Bombay Seacoast and Mumbai Juhu.
-
Rtn.Aslam Merchant
More Event Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/nVEZ4HiKA7J6G6rZA
