Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar are facing a lot of heat from the nature lovers in Mumbai over their endorsement of the Mumbai Metro. For those who are clueless about what happened, Amitabh Bachchan had tweeted about a "friend" who had travelled on the Metro train and found it to be efficient. Later, Akshay himself travelled on the Mumbai Metro and shared a video of his journey, to emphasise how Metro helps in beating peak hour traffic of Mumbai. Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar Slammed For Supporting The Metro Construction, Twitterati Call Them Hypocrites.

Now you may ask, what's wrong with what they tweeted? Isn't Metro Rail one of the biggest boons of travel in Mumbai? As a frequent traveller on the route, I agree with both the celebs and your sentiments. The first Metro rail that started between Ghatkopar and Versova in 2014 is one of the best things that happened to the island city this decade.

I remember the time before 2014, when I worked in Andheri and had to travel from Kanjur Marg by bus through the jam-packed lanes. Yet, I reached late every time. Now, thanks to Metro, the central and western suburbs are well-connected, reducing the travelling time for many of the city's employees.

Thousands, possibly, lakhs of people in the city are using the Metro line on a daily basis, and we are quite excited about the future pathways that are under construction right now. Even if we have to bear the potholes and the traffic jams that the construction are causing. Actress Mouni Roy, who had acted with Akshay in Gold, recently had her car damaged when a brick from the Metro construction fell on the vehicle.

Yes, Metro is a boon, but do we really need an Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar to tell us that? Both the stars have been behaving as if they have recently discovered such a traffic-beater exists in the city. And we are pretty sure that they are never going to use it IRL, apart from such "endorsement" stunts.

Then again, even if they are late in rattling the benefits of Metro Rail, they aren't wrong in doing so. What's wrong is the timing of these videos and tweets and "friend's emergency" trip! As you might be aware the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited is at loggerheads with the environmentalists over massive cutting of more than 2000 trees in Aarey Colony, Mumbai's sole forested area. The purpose is to build a shed for Metro Line III. Aarey Deforestation Row: Supreme Court Rejects Plea Seeking Alternative Land For Metro Car Shed.

While the city definitely needs more metros, it shouldn't come at the cost of trees, especially when Mumbai is facing high pollution levels. So by their recent tweets in support of Metro, both Amitabh and Akshay, who have known affiliates of the ruling BJP party, are also indirectly supporting the idea of cutting of trees. Their tweets may not suggest this, but we aren't fools to not get the idea behind the sudden interest in Metro trains.

Amitabh Bachchan even suggested how to 'beat' pollution in the same tweet. He advised his fans to plant trees in their garden like he is doing.

Here's Amitabh's Tweet:

The problem is two-fold. First of all, not many of us are privileged enough to have private gardens like the superstar. Secondly, it may take minutes to cut down a tree, but it takes years to grow one. Also, we haven't forgotten the fact that before he became the ambassador of Metro Rail, Amitabh Bachchan was against new Metro lines, because one of them would have invaded his privacy. Amitabh Bachchan, Who Once Opposed Mumbai Metro, Appears in Ad Promoting Same Metro Service.

Akshay Kumar had a quirkier suggestion to beat the pollution. He posted a picture of an autorickshaw that has saplings all over it. How those saplings will survive when the vehicle travels on the roads, with all the smoke around it, only Khiladi Kumar can answer that!

Akshay Kumar's 'Innovative' Suggestion:

It doesn't take a genius to know that these solutions offered by both the superstars, with millions of fans following them, are mere trinkets to distract them from the raging controversy. Thankfully, there are some socially conscious stars like Kangana Ranaut, Shraddha Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Manoj Bajpayee and John Abraham, who have come out in support of the environmentalists and condemned the cutting of trees. But apart from tweeting about it, I am not really sure how actively they will get into nature conservation.

Though I hate to go for comparison, things are quite different in Hollywood. Recently, when the tragic Amazon forest fires happened, Hollywood celebs not only condemned the man-made disaster but also came together to set things right. Popular stars like Madonna and Leonardo DiCaprio have been raking up the issue on whichever platforms they have a voice on.

DiCaprio, who is lauded for his environmental awareness projects, has his foundation, Earth Alliance, donate $5 million to the fire effort. In India, we have Aamir Khan working hard for Narmada conservation but he is awfully quiet over the Aarey Forest controversy. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Initiative ‘Earth Alliance’ Pledges $5 Million Donation for Amazon Rainforest Fires.

Look, I really understand the plight of our Bollywood stars. They have been rendered almost spinless by the frequent threats to ban their movies, and have political workers hold morchas outside their houses. And if they have a Muslim surname, they will be asked to "go to Pakistan." Compared to them, the Hollywood fraternity acts like a stronger unit, who can diss at the President of the States, and get away with it. Rarely are films "boycotted" for political reasons, in the West.

So I won't blame the superstars of Bollywood, for not coming out and taking a stand against a government initiative. But at least, I expect them to not go the other way round and get into endorsements, without understanding the repercussions of what their support may mean. We can still look for a viable solution for finding the right location for Metro shed, and we can wait a bit longer if the delay could halt in the construction of the Metro line. But how will we face our kids when we have to send them outside wearing anti-pollution masks?

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2019 07:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).