Aarey Metro car shed: Don’t stab the city, says ex-Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

A day after his rebel general Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Maharashtra CM Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray raised questions over politics and policy decisions that he had taken but are about to be altered by the new government particularly the shifting of Metro 3 car shed from Aarey to KanjurmargDonrsquot shift depot againSpeaking at the Sena Bhavan on Friday Thackeray opposed the new governmentrsquos move to construct a Metro 3 car shed on Aarey land ldquoIrsquom deeply saddened because of the decision on the Aarey car depotDonrsquot make Mumbai suffer because you are angry with me Donrsquot stab the city I request you to not shift the depot from Kanjurmarg to Aarey which is a wildlife hub Donrsquot play with Mumbairsquos environmentrdquoHe said the land issue could be resolved easily because both the state and Centre are now controlled by the same parties ldquoIt was the first decision as the CM I stayed the construction at Aarey and shifted the depot to Kanjurmarg because of environmental reasons Irsquom with environmentalists It is not private land The Kanjur issue can now be resolved because both state and central governments are yours BJPrdquo he stated furtherUddhav Thackeray exCM right Devendra Fadnavis deputy CMThe former CM said it was his sincere request to save Aarey land which has wildlife ldquoThe wildlife is seen there The trees were cut previously but the felling stopped We have videos and photos confirming the existence of wildlife When movement starts there the wildlife will vanish and later you will be able to go even deeper into the forest land My government reserved a forest within the cityrdquoThe Aarey issue had become a bone of contention between the BJP and Sena before the 2019 polls The Sena presidentrsquos son Aaditya had fully supported the lsquoSave Aareyrsquo mission The Sena government had changed the decision at its first Cabinet meeting The alternative Kanjurmarg site has been disputed in court In its first Cabinet meeting the ShindeFadnavis regime ordered the reversal and asked the governmentrsquos lawyers to submit in court a say in accordance with the past decision for having the car shed at AareyShinde not Sena workerThe exCM said the situation in which Shinde was made the CM could have been averted had the BJP accepted his demand for sharing the top office for two and a half years each after their alliance was voted to power in 2019 ldquoNow the BJP will not have its CM for five yearsrdquo he said adding that the MVArsquos existence was not needed if the agreement was honoured by the BJPExCM Uddhav Thackeray gets ready to address the media at Sena Bhavan on Friday PicAshish RajeldquoAccording to those who formed the government a socalled Shiv Sena worker has been installed as the CM I had been telling the same in 2019 And it was possible then Two and a half years would have been completed now and everything made possible honourablyrdquo he said refusing to accept Shinde as a Sena worker ldquoWhy did they disagree then and rejected the proposal Amit Shah had given me a word but he did not keep it There cannot be a Sainik in the CMrsquos office by keeping the Sena outrdquoRight to recall the electedThackeray reiterated his fatherrsquos demand for recalling elected public representatives if they dishonoured the mandate He added ldquoPeople should know where their vote goes who do their elected representatives stand with The Sena Bhavan stands in Mahim Look where Mahimrsquos vote has travelled from Surat to Guwahati to Goa Senarsquos Mahim MLA has shifted his loyalty so have 38 othersrdquoThackeray has appealed to the four pillars of democracy to save the countryrsquos constitutional setup ldquoAll four pillars should come forward to save democracy which is being mocked at The vote is on sale People will no longer believe in democracyrdquo Fadnavis who planned and executed Metro 3 with its car shed in Aarey as the CM during the BJP regime said the site had been approved by the high court the Green Tribunal and the Supreme CourtldquoAbout 25 per cent of the work is done and the Metro can run as early as possible with a car depot at AareyThe remaining work can be completed soonrdquo the deputy CM said Whereas it would take at least four years to complete the depot at Kanjurmarg he added ldquoIf Metro 3 has to run soon the car depot must be at Aarey and it is our decisionrdquoFadnavis said he had urged Thackeray not to shift the site ldquobut it became an ego issue Itrsquos not about tree felling If it was about this how come builders in the same precinct were allowed to cut treesrdquo he askedAlso Read Aarey Metro car shed lsquoMumbaikars will take to the streets againrsquoBhide to be backSources said the Mumbai Metro Railway Corporation could have its former CMD Ashwini Bhide back in command Deputed by Fadnavis during his tenure Bhide had pushed the project hard and locked horns with Aaditya Thackeray over the protests They fought a prolonged war on Twitter when he jumped the wagon of environmentalists and took up the cause after becoming the environment ministerThen the car depot site was shifted and so was Bhide who after a brief insignificant stint was appointed in the BMC as one its additional commissioners2019Year Uddhav had scrapped Aarey car depot