'Everyone happy': Aaditya Thackeray responds as CM Uddhav halts Aarey metro car-shed work

On his first official day after taking over the office of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray announced a stay in construction of the metro car shed in the city's green lung Aarey Colony. Thackeray clarified that there will be no stoppage of work done on the metro project, but there will be a stay on the metro car shed in Aarey colony till the 'next decision'. 

READ: BIG: CM Uddhav Halts Aarey Metro Car-shed Construction & Tree-felling Till 'next Decision'

'Only Aarey car shed work has been stopped'

Aaditya Thackeray, Sena's MLA from Worli said, "All the people of Mumbai are happy with this decision. Development works will continue but the harm that was being done to the environment will be stopped." 

Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference, CM Thackeray said, "I have stayed Aarey car-shed work. I will review the entire thing...I will not allow a culture where trees are cut at night, not a single tree leaf will be cut till further orders. I am the first Chief Minister who was born in Mumbai. It is going on in my mind, what I can do for the city."

During the press conference, he also spoke about the work done on the first day. He said, "I'm in Mantralaya (state secretariat) for the first time. I just had a meeting with the secretaries and we introduced each other. I told them to use taxpayers' money in the best way, and that it should not be wasted."

The Shiv Sena, lead by their youth leader Aaditya Thackeray have been heavily campaigning against the Aarey metro shed, which has lead to the cutting of a large number of trees in Aarey colony. Thackeray has made multiple attempts to stop the construction of the shed but was not successful, though he was also simultaneously criticised and accused of conducting an 'empty' protest, as the Shiv Sena was a part of the BMC, state and central administration in alliance with the BJP at the time.

READ: Aaditya Thackeray : 'I Believe Aarey Must Be Declared A Forest'

Reacting to the statements made by CM Thackeray, former CM Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, "It is unfortunate that the Metro car shed has been postponed even after the High Court judgment. This shows that the state government is not serious about infrastructure projects in Mumbai. In the end, the common people of Mumbai! Japan's JIC had given a loan of about Rs 5 crore for the metro project at a nominal interest rate. Such a decision will not make investors invest in infrastructure projects in the future, and projects that are already delayed within 6 years will be further scrapped."

(with inputs from ANI)

READ: 'Aarey Is Not Sena-BJP But Human-environment Tussle': Aditya Thackeray

READ: Trees Cut Only For Development, Says Maharashtra's Forest Min