Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 1: One of the first decisions of the new Eknath Shinde cabinet in Maharashtra was to reverse the first decision of the preceding Maha Vikas Aghadi government shifting the metro car shed project from Aarey Colony, fondly called the “green lung” of Mumbai, to Kanjurmarg salt pan.
Within hours of his swearing-in as the chief minister, Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis decided to bring the car shed project back to Aarey colony, a decision that was taken by the BJP government led by Fadnavis earlier. Shinde, it is learnt, has directed Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to submit in the Bombay High Court that the Metro car shed would be built at Aarey Colony as planned in 2019 under the Fadnavis government.
“A lot of work has been done but since the car shed work is stuck the metro cannot begin operations. The site that the last government chose is in dispute. 25 per cent work has been completed at the site where we proposed to build the car shed and the remaining work can also be completed quickly. In Mumbai’s interest, the car shed should be built there only. That is why our government has decided to build the car shed there,” Fadnavis said.
It was also the first decision of the now-ousted three-party MVA government to stall the work at the Aarey colony and shift the shed project to Kanjurmarg because of the protests from the environmentalists and others.
The issue, which had sparked massive protests in Mumbai by environmental activists, dates back to 2019 when the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation sought the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) permission to fell trees at Aarey Colony.
Protests began soon after the BMC gave a go ahead to the project. No sooner the High Court rejected a petition to stall the project at Aarey Colony, home to some 10,000 tribals living in 27 hamlets, the authorities moved in and in a single day fell more than 2,100 trees to clear the ground for the start of construction.
As activists stepped up their agitation, then Chief Minister Fadnavis said the area identified for the Metro car shed does not categorised as biodiversity or forest land. He also reasoned that the Metro will reduce carbon footprint. “Why we save trees because we want to reduce the carbon footprint. So, we need to understand one thing that how much carbon footprint is going to be reduced due to the underground Metro,” he said.
Shiv Sena, though was an alliance partner then, had opposed de-forestation of Aarey Colony and among those leading the protest against the Fadnavis government’s decision was the young Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, son of the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Following the Assembly polls later that year, the Shiv Sena parted ways with long-time ally BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government under Uddhav Thackeray was formed.
The new government, heeding to the protests by activists, decided to shift the Metro car shed to Kanjurmarg. But the work could not progress there because the BJP-led government at the centre put the spanner moving the High Court to claim that the 102 acres of land earmarked for the metro car shed project at Kanjurmarg belonged to the central salt department and it was not ready to part with the land. The High Court then issued a stay in 2020 and since then the project has been in a limbo.
The Shiv Sena has been opposing the plan to build the shed at Aarey even when they were the BJP’s alliance partners. Shinde as a minister in the Thackeray cabinet had strongly favoured shifting the project from Aarey Colony for environmental protection. Responding to the BJP’s criticism over shifting the project, Chief Minister Thackeray last year said infrastructure works undertaken in haste could lead to waste and not true development.
Soon after Shinde’s move on Friday, the BJP leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted that it would bring the Mumbai Metro work back on track. “Shinde Fadnavis Govt decision to bring back MetroCar Shed at Aarey will put Mumbai Metro work back on Track,” he tweeted.
Addressing the media later in the day, the deposed Chief Minister Thackeray urged the new government not to reverse the Metro car shed plan. He said the new government might have reservations about his government’s functioning, but should not be at the cost of ruining Mumbai’s environmental conditions.