Metro car shed shifted to Kanjurmarg, experts hail Maha govt's move

In what can be termed as a very big victory for Mumbaibased environment and wildlife lovers Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced the scrapping of Metro car shed at Aarey Milk Colony and said the project will be relocated to KanjurmargWhile addressing the state via live video chat Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the car depot from Aarey will be shifted to Kanjurmarg and he thanked Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Finance Minister Balasaheb Thorat Environment and Tourism minister Aditya Thackeray and his other colleagues in the government for supporting this decision Thackeray also said that the 600 acres reserved forest in Aarey has now been expanded to 800 acresPeople from all walks of life including politicians movie stars environmentalists and wildlife experts welcomed the Maharashtra governments decision of moving the Metro car shed from Aarey Colony to KanjurmargEnvironmentalist Stalin D from NGO Vanashakti who is also the member of Aarey conservation group said We thank the honorable Chief Minister the forest minister the environment minister and the MVA govt for fulfilling their promise This is a economically ecologically and logistically a wise decision and a win win formula that was being deliberately ignored by the previous government for reasons difficult to understand The blackmail of Aarey or Metro has ended It is Aarey and Metro nowA leopard at Aarey Milk Colony Pic Ranjeet JadhavGreen Activist Zoru Bhathena said We are thrilled to hear that the Govt has agreed that there is an easy way to move the Depot out of Aarey Citizens will get the priceless benefit of better Metro connectivity Govt will benefit from life long cost savings from merging depots Mumbaikars will forever benefit from the preservation of the Aarey Forest The only question that remains unanswered is why the previous government refused to act for the overall benefit of Mumbai when all these benefits were known way back in 2015 itselfEnvironmentalist Anand Pendharkar from NGO SPROUTS said This also goes to show that if managing politicians have the intention even badly design infrastructure can be changed to safeguard local ecosystems and that it could be sent back to the drafting tables Also this is how democracy survives and succeeds This has TRULY been a citizens movement where advertising professionals artists musicians tribals legal eagles children youth senior citizens and researchers ecologists architects planners media professionals be it from print radio or television media played very strong roles in keeping the discussion alive bringing out the nuances of the bad planning process and showed how we all can participate in protecting our own planetCongress party member of Parliament Rajya Sabha from Karnataka and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to congratulate Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for relocating the Metro car shed from AareyI applaud Uddhav Thackerayji for finally deciding on this and saving the Aarey ecosystem so valuable to Mumbaikars I grew up in this area and I am very well aware of its valuehttpstcoYDTQt50XGbmdash Jairam Ramesh Jairam_Ramesh October 11 2020Environmentalists and animal experts have been protesting against the proposed car shed site for Metro at Aarey for years stating that the area was a wildlife zone and the construction of the Metro car shed will destroy the animal corridorIt may be noted that time and again midday has been highlighting the importance of saving the biodiversity in Aarey Milk Colony The newspaper has consistently over the years reported about the the wildlife sightings and new scientific discoveries that have taken place in Aarey Milk Colony when authorities in the earlier government had allegedly denied the existence of wildlife in the areaRead Middays detailed coverage on Aarey biodiversity and proposed Metro car shed constructionIn February 2020 midday had reported the concerns of wildlife lovers and researchers about the proposed shifting of the car shed from Aarey Milk Colony to Royal Palms stating that the move will destroy the animal corridor used by leopards and other fauna between the sitesRead the storyOn September 12 2019 midday did a story based on a report prepared by a citybased NGO mdash Empower Foundation about the evidence of 290 species of animals inside Aarey Milk colony The report was sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests MoEF International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN and United Nations Environment Programme UNEP The most concerning aspect of the report was that the Aarey forest was home to five species including leopards which had mention in the IUCN Red List that means the species were inching towards becoming endangered Read the full storyIn 2016 midday had reported Mumbai Metro changes its spots wants to now go after Royal Palms plot in which it was stated that the private land at Royal Palms that the state government was eyeing for the car shed is a hitherto unknown wildlife corridor between Film City and Aarey Milk Colony that sees daily leopard activityKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news