Published 21:18 IST, December 16th 2020
Maharashtra Govt hints at challenging Bombay HC order staying car shed work in Kanjurmarg
On Wednesday, the Maharashtra government hinted at appealing against the order of a two-judge Bombay HC bench pertaining to the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed.
On Wednesday, the Maharashtra government hinted at appealing against the order of a two-judge Bombay HC bench pertaining to the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni stayed the transfer of the 102-acres land in Kanjurmarg to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the construction of the car shed. The HC, which was hearing the Centre’s writ petition filed through the deputy salt commissioner, adjourned the matter till February 2021.
Speaking to the media, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar remarked, "They (Bombay HC) have done what they wanted to do. The Chief Minister and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will try to take a positive position as per the law and the rules". He added, "There is a provision in law to appeal against the High Court verdict. We will explore this option too". Pawar stressed that any decision in this regard will be taken after consulting the Law department and the Advocate General.
Row over car shed
The Mumbai Metro 3 project comprises a 33.5 km underground corridor running along the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ route. In total, there will be 27 stations out of which 26 will be underground. At present, nearly 78 per cent of the tunnelling work has been completed.
There has been a long dispute about the location of the Metro car shed. According to environmental activists, Aarey is a forest area and any construction work would hamper the ecological balance. On the other hand, the Devendra Fadnavis regime highlighted that the long-term gains of the project would offshoot the temporary damage caused due to the felling of trees.
Widespread protests were held 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.
While Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asserted that a single leaf of Aarey would not be cut, a 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. On October 11, Thackeray announced that the car shed will be shifted to government land in Kanjurmarg and no cost will be incurred for the purpose.
Updated 21:18 IST, December 16th 2020