Mumbai After reviving the project to develop a Metro carshed for the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ metro railway at the Aarey milk colony, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the opposition by environmentalists to the project was “genuine in some respects and sponsored in others”.
The proposal for the car shed at Aarey was revived by the Eknath Shinde government, with incumbent deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spearheading the announcement. Fadnavis had pushed for the same when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had an alliance with Shiv Sena. The Sena’s opposition to the plan was a flashpoint between the party and BJP in 2019.
“This is a metro line that is in the interests of Mumbaikars…it will end the congestion and pollution in Mumbai. It will ensure that Mumbaikars do not inhale polluted air daily. Opposing it is like opposing the environment. Hence, we will evolve a consensus and complete this work,” said Fadnavis, while speaking to reporters on Sunday.
He added that the opposition to the carshed at Aarey was “genuine in some respects and sponsored in others”. “Everyone knows that the trees have been cut, and there is no need to chop any more. Even then, this protest is taking place. Some environmentalists may be doing this as they do not have genuine information and there is a chance that some others may have launched a sponsored protest after donning the guise of environmentalists. But we will respect all environmentalists and negotiate with them. It must be noted that the metro is the right of the Mumbaikars,” Fadnavis charged.
On Sunday, former environment minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray attacked the BJP and said, “Don’t cheat Mumbai like you cheated us. The Aarey forests are important for Mumbai. There are two alternatives to Aarey, that is, Pahadi Goregaon and Kanjurmarg.”
Meanwhile, Fadnavis said that 25 per cent work on the project was over. The car shed can be developed in a year and the metro route can begin operations. If the car shed was shifted to Kanjurmarg, it would take four years to develop and involve a cost escalation of ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 crore.
The Thackeray government had also declared Aarey as a reserved forest, and there are attempts to complete the construction outside this area, by changing the design, Fadnavis noted.
The Supreme Court (SC) in its order allowing the cutting of the trees, had noted that the metro would ensure carbon sequestration in its trips in 80 days that was equivalent to that done by the trees in their lifetime.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had shifted the carshed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg due to concerns over the environmental impact of the project in the forests, which has a healthy presence of animals including leopards. However, there is a legal dispute on the ownership of land at the Kanjurmarg site.