Updated 3 November 2020 at 16:16 IST
Mumbai Metro 3 car shed at Kanjurmarg hits roadblock as Centre orders stoppage of work
The Maharashtra government's decision to shift the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg came under a cloud after the Centre's intervention.
The Maharashtra government's decision to shift the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg came under a cloud after the Centre's intervention. In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade claimed that the land allocated for the car shed in Kanjurmarg belongs to the Union government. The contention is that this salt pan land is the remit of the Salt Commissioner who reports to the DPIIT.
As per the DPIIT, the Centre had incurred severe loss due to the state government's decision. The letter requested the Maharashtra Chief Secretary to restrain the MMRDA from developing the car shed at the Kanjurmarg plot. According to the department, this step was necessary to protect the interests of the Central government.
The letter stated, "The improper and unilateral action of the Collector, MSD and MMRDA has caused severe loss to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India. I would request you to take necessary steps and restrain MMRDA from taking any further steps and to direct the collector to withdraw the orders passed in this regard in order to protect the interests of the Government of India."
Row over car shed
The Mumbai Metro 3 project comprises a 33.5 km underground corridor running along the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ route. In total, there will be 27 stations out of which 26 will be underground. At present, nearly 78% of the tunnelling work has been completed.
There has been a long dispute about the location of the Metro car shed. According to environmental activists, Aarey is a forest area and any construction work would hamper the ecological balance. On the other hand, the Devendra Fadnavis regime highlighted that the long-term gains of the project would offshoot the temporary damage caused due to the felling of trees.
Widespread protests were held to protest against the Aarey land being used for the purpose of building a car shed for Mumbai Metro 3. As the Bombay High Court upheld the permission granted by the Brihanmumbai Mumbai Corporation’s (BMC) Tree Authority in October, over 2,185 trees were razed overnight. This led to a petition in the SC that ordered a freeze on the cutting of any more trees till further orders.
While Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asserted that a single leaf of Aarey would not be cut, a report submitted by a 4-member panel constituted by the MVA government in January 2020 recommended that Aarey was the best possible site for the construction of the car shed as the other alternative places were not financially viable. On October 11, Thackeray announced that the car shed will be shifted to government land in Kanjurmarg and no cost will be incurred for the purpose. He added that the building which has come up in Aarey forest shall be utilised for some other public purpose.
Published By : Akhil Oka
Published On: 3 November 2020 at 16:16 IST