Bombay’s “last green lung” started out as the
home of the revolutionary Bombay Milk Scheme envisioned by Dara Khurody
Aarefa Johari
In 1949, when the northern suburbs of Bombay were still expanses of forests, farms and villages, the Indian government handed over 1,300 hectares of a forest called Aarey to Bombay’s dairy development board. Under the direction of Dara Khurody, the milk commissioner of Bombay at the time, Aarey was soon transformed into Aarey Milk Colony (AMC) — home of the grand Bombay Milk Scheme that revolutionized milk production and supply in India.
Khurody won the 1963 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work in the dairy industry, and a proud government turned AMC into a tourist spot.
In the decades that followed, as......