Fadnavis laments the Aarey metro car shed shift, says 'Rs 1300 crores down the drain'

Reacting to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray's decision to shift the Metro-3 car shed from Aarey forest to Kanjurmarg, ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday tweeted that the unfortunate decision will cost the state government an additional Rs 4000 crores. Citing the Thackeray-appointed panel's report saying 'no feasibility in shifting', Fadnavis asked whom did the state government wish to kill for its ego.  The Metro depot which was sanctioned in 2015, was finally started in 2019 and has now come back to ground zero - finalising the site - Kanjurmarg, albeit incurring massive losses to the 6-year-long project.

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Fadnavis: 'Rs 1300 crores down the drain'

He added that the proposed marshy land where the Thackeray government has proposed to build the car shed has a stay order on it ordered by the Bombay High Court. The area which was worth Rs 2500 crores in 2015, will approximately take over two years to stabilize, stated Fadnavis. He estimates that the prolonged stay in construction at Aarey, the shifting of car shed will add to an additional loss of Rs 1300 crores apart from the expenses to build the new car shed - which will surmount to Rs 4000 crores.

In big decision, Aarey Metro car shed to be moved to Mumbai's Kanjurmarg, says CM Uddhav

Thackeray shifts Aarey car shed to Kanjurmarg

Earlier in the day, Thackeray announced that the planned Aarey Metro car shed will be relocated from Aarey Colony to Kanjurmarg in Mumbai. He also said that his government has withdrawn cases registered against people who were protesting against the proposed metro car shed in Aarey. Thackeray has claimed that the project will be shifted to government land in Kanjurmarg and no cost will be incurred for the purpose, assuring that the Rs 100 crores expenditure incurred till date 'will not go to waste'.

Incidentally in January, a four-member committee appointed by Thackeray - headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Manoj Saunik recommended the lifting of the stay on the construction work of the Metro Rail car shed in Aarey. It also stated that no viable alternative was found to Aarey to build the car shed other than Aarey forest. It had considered a marshy land at Kanjurmarg where a car shed for another Metro line (Jogeshwari-Lokhandwala-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg) has been proposed and another site just outside the Aarey land (Sariput Nagar) at Jogeshwari, as per reports.

Maharashtra govt reserves 600 acres of Mumbai's Aarey land as forest; 'first in any metro'

Aarey Protest turns ugly

The protest against the mass tree-cutting of trees in the Aarey area took an ugly turn when authorities from Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) allegedly started cutting trees in the area in October 2019. After an SC-ordered stay on tree-felling, construction was stayed in the Aarey area, with CM Thackeray assuring that no construction will be done till a decision will be taken on car shed. Recently, Thackeray announced 800 acres of Aarey land near Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in suburban Mumbai as a 'forest', excluding constructions of all types of roads, slums, Adivasi pockets and government facilities.

BIG: CM Uddhav halts Aarey metro car-shed construction & tree-felling till 'next decision'