Maharashtra government takes BIG decision, to shift Metro car shed back to Aarey: Sources

In a big snub to Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday, the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra decided to shift the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed back to Aarey. On October 11, 2020, Thackeray announced that the car shed will be shifted from Aarey to Kanjurmarg and no cost will be incurred for the purpose. This became one of the key points of contention between BJP and Shiv Sena in the last few years. However, the Bombay High Court stayed the transfer of the 102-acre land in Kanjurmarg to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the construction of the car shed on December 16, 2020.

As per sources, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni has been directed to present the new government's stance about the location of the metro car shed before the Bombay High Court. In April this year, the Bombay HC, which is hearing pleas against the claim that the Kanjurmarg land belonged to the Centre, had urged the then Uddhav Thackeray-led government and the Centre to resolve their differences over the car shed issue. Meanwhile, sources revealed Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis directed the officers that a proposal be brought at the earliest to resume the Jalyukt Shivar scheme. 

Row over Mumbai Metro 3 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, over 90 of the tunnelling work has been completed. There has been a long dispute regarding 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 erstwhile 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 against the Aarey land being utilised 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 2019, 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. After taking over as the CM in November 2019, Uddhav Thackeray asserted that a single leaf of Aarey would not be cut for constructing the car shed.