Published 19:46 IST, September 3rd 2020
Fadnavis cries foul over Aarey forest decision, continues to oppose shifting of car shed
On Thursday, former CM Devendra Fadnavis cried foul over the Maharashtra government's move to reserve 600 acres of land in Aarey Milk Colony as a forest.
A day after the Maharashtra government announced that 600 acres of land in Aarey Colony would be reserved as a forest, ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis hinted that this was a coverup to usurp the land of private individuals. According to him, the delineation process was difficult owing to the presence of Adivasi padas and government property in the area. Talking to the media in Nagpur, he slammed the state government's decision to shift the Metro car shed from Aarey Colony.
The BJP leader contended that this would escalate the cost of the project. He alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government's move was an attempt to deprive Mumbaikars of the Metro. Additionally, Fadnavis claimed that vested interests were involved.
Devendra Fadnavis remarked, "There are many difficulties. Delineation has to be done for creating a forest. Continuity is not possible because there are Adivasi padas and government property in the area. The High Court, Green Tribunal, and Supreme Court have given permission for the Metro car shed to be constructed. It is not appropriate to move the car shed away from this area. This will lead to delays and escalate the cost of the project. This cost will be recovered from the Metro commuters."
"If this is coverup to usurp the land of private individuals, then this is not correct. This is an attempt to deprive Mumbaikars of the Metro. The decision to shift the Metro car shed has been taken owing to vested interests," he added.
Row over Metro car shed
Widespread protests had been going on 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.
One of the first decisions of the MVA government was to stop the work of the Aarey metro car shed project. The Maharashtra CM asserted that a single leaf of Aarey would not be cut. Subsequently, the 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.
Updated 19:46 IST, September 3rd 2020