Mumbai is one of the world’s most populated and polluted cities. In fact, only 2% of urban land is dedicated to green spaces. In the midst of this chaos, is Aarey Colony. Spread over 1,619 hectares (5 times the size of Central Park, in New York) it’s often referred to as the Last Lung of Mumbai. The Bombay Municipal Corporation, though, planned to hack down Aarey Colony to 14% of its current size (234 hectares) to make way for roads, malls and a business district.

The citizens had to take a stand. So with saveaarey.org, a citizen forum, we launched RAKHIS FROM AAREY – PROTECTING THE LAST LUNG OF MUMBAI. An initiative inspired by the ancient festival of Raksha (Protect) Bandhan (Relationship), where a sister ties a holy thread on the brother’s wrist asking for his protection. The brother in turn pledges to protect. So we decided to send hundreds of Rakhis from each tree in Aarey, made from the discarded parts of trees, to powerful influencers and opinion makers asking them for their protection.

Then on trees outside Aarey Colony, we setup listening booths that played audio letters that spoke about the plight of Aarey trees. Online, on rakhisfromaarey.org we inspired people to send Rakhis to other potential saviors. Radio channels lent a helping hand by covering our campaign for 6-weeks for free, along with running an extensive activation program across constituencies. All of this led to a massive citizen movement that forced the government to scrap the Plan 2034.

Our campaign draws inspiration from the festival of Raksha (protect) Bandhan (relationship). It’s a festival celebrated by a billion people every year, where men pledge to protect their sisters. The sister in turn ties a knot of protection or RAKHI on the wrist of her brother. So we were inspired to send Rakhis From Aarey to influencers asking for their protection.

On World Forestry Day we mailed hundreds of Rakhis from each Aarey tree to the Prime Minister of India, and other important influencers asking them for protection. We, even, sent 1647 personalised letters, in 3 languages. Many accepted the Rakhis. We posted their acknowledgement on social media. On ground, we turned hundreds of trees outside Aarey into listening booths where audio letters told the plight of Aarey. Then on rakhisfromaarey.org we inspired citizens to send Rakhis inviting others to the campaign. A citizen movement followed that eventually protected Aarey.

Rakhis From Aarey reached over 56.9 million people on social media. Fever Radio and Radio Mirchi collectively covered our campaign for 6 weeks, reaching over 51.24 million drive time radio listeners. It also clocked earned media worth US $2.3 million. Bollywood superstars Ranbir Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Sushant Singh accepted Rakhis and vowed to protect Aarey colony. A call from the Chief Minister’s office congratulating the team for the campaign was followed up with the best result possible. Because of continued public and media pressure the Chief Minister of Maharashtra scrapped the Draft Development Plan 2034. The trees of Aarey were safe. A little knot protected Aarey colony.