Salim Ali’s niece joins chorus against Parsik Hill plunder

Mumbai, June 6 (IANS) Spurred by the support from four leading NGOs, including noted ornithologist and naturalist late Salim Alis niece Sumaira Abdulali, activists campaigning for saving the Parsik Hills on the city's outskirts from wanton destruction in the name of quarrying now hope that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would save the natural resource from further degradation.

The NGOs have extended their whole-hearted support to a social communication campaign by corporate communicators industry body Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) -- #IamParsikHill - IamDying -- and appealed to the Chief Minister to take steps to ban quarrying of the hills which fall in the foothills of Sahyadri Range.

"The decades-long quarrying has caused irreparable damage to the environment and the once picturesque hills," said Nandakumar Pawar, director of the NGO Shree Ekvira Aai Pratishthan (SEAP).

Stating that "we cannot stand as mute witnesses to the rampant, careless and criminal destruction", he said SEAP will file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking to ban quarrying at Parsik Hills.

Observing that quarrying destroys bio-diversity, forests and the water- table, Stalin D, Director of NGO Vanashakti, said: "The Parsik hill range has the potential for an excellent venue for eco-tourism and adventure sports. Please save these beautiful forested hills from reckless destruction."

The dust pollution created by quarrying poses great health hazards for the citizens of Navi Mumbai, he said adding that the Chief Minister must ban quarrying at Parsik Hills immediately.

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) itself has said that the air pollution levels in the areas around stone crushers of quarries are a hundred times the acceptable levels.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call during his latest Mann Ki Baat broadcast to follow the Environment Day-2017 theme 'Connecting People To Nature', PRCI has embarked on the campaign to focus attention on the destruction of nature which is also harming the people, said PRCI National President B.N. Kumar.

The campaign received massive response with over 10,000 'likes' on Facebook and close to 100 signing the online petition to the Chief Minister to ban quarrying of Parsik Hills, he said adding that tweets are being sent to Fadnavis, Bollywood activists like Amitabh Bachhan and Anupam Kher and some media veterans seeking their support.

Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation, who had earlier campaigned against indiscriminate sand mining, said the destruction of Parsik Hills is criminal considering its bio-diversity. She called for a proper audit of requirement of construction material such as sand and stones.

Late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had in June 1997 ordered a ban on quarrying at Parsik Hills during the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance rule in Maharashtra. But later, the blasting of the hills resumed with seeming vengeance.

A cursory look at the hills from Sion-Panvel highway shows the pathetic condition of the plundered hills along Thane-Belapur Road where forests have disappeared due to quarrying.

The NGT is hearing a PIL against quarrying and its ruling is slated for July 19. Quarry owners have, meanwhile, stopped their operations as the Thane district collector stopped collecting royalty. The collector, however, permitted three quarries to operate.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)