Aarey saved: Metro carshed moved to Kanjurmarg

After much policy deliberations the Uddhav Thackerayled MVA government has decided to shift a controversial and underconstruction Metro 3 carshed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg Thackeray said on Sunday that the state will save money by using government land available in the northeastern suburb We will use government land hence there will be no extra cost for acquiring land Thackeray said in a webcast on SundayThe decision to shift the car shed to Kanjurmarg has been taken We will use government land hence there will be no extra cost for acquiring land Thackeray said in a webcast His party activists and citizen groups had opposed the construction at Aarey ahead of the last yearrsquos Assembly pollsThe Sena had assured the relocation of the depot and conserving the biodiversity of the forest land if it came to power The CM said the police cases filed against the people who protested the overnight felling of the Aarey trees are being withdrawnTrees being cut in Aarey Colony at the site of the proposed Metro carshed in Aarey in October last yearAccording to the CM the two Metro corridors mdash ColabaBandraSeepz Metro 3 and Swami Samarth NagarVikhroli Metro 6 mdash will be integrated under therevised planI must thank Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat he said sharing credit with the ruling partners Aaditya who is environment and climate change minister has worked hard to make this possible he addedThe CM did not mention the extra expense that will go into building the additional length of tracks to reach the Kanjurmarg site and the cost escalation the altered design is expected to cause The work on the Aarey site was stalled some nine months ago He however said the expenditure on the Aarey site was about R100 crore and the buildings that have come up there would be put to the best use for the publicKanjurmarg has been one of the alternatives suggested by environmentalists and activists who have opposed the Aarey project where the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC has already spent some hundred crores on levelling the alleged forest land and building some expensive structures Experts in MMRC and the erstwhile BJPShiv Sena government have argued that the Aarey site was perfect for the car depotThe CM said saving the existing forest was his priority and not making tall claims like the previous government of planting crores of saplings Some people tell lies I donrsquot We said 600 acres will be added to the national park but a revised estimate says there will be 200 acres more So we will have 800 acres of reserved forest inside the city Cities are made inside forests but we have made a forest possible inside the city This will benefit future generations he saidThe Opposition said the decision was misleading and imposed higher costs on taxpayers BJP legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar said the studies commissioned by the current and the previous governments did not recommend the Kanjurmarg site because the land available there is disputed and the site itself is not feasible for Metro 3 projectrsquos smooth operations09No of months since work on Aarey site has been stalledDevendra Fadnavis saysFormer chief minister Devendra Fadnavis reacted to the developments and said This decision will satisfy the ego of some people and increase the cost of the project by at least R4000 crore This cost escalation is assessed by the committee appointed by this governmentThe Kanjurmarg site was earlier considered but it was under litigation and then stayed by the high court Some private individuals claimed ownership rights The stay was requested to be withdrawn but the HC wanted the amount to be deposited if the claims got settled in future This amount was around Rs 2400 crore in 2015 What is the status of that case today And if someone moves the SC who will be responsible for the delay Moreover as the Kanjurmarg site is marshy land it will require at least two years to stabilise itIn addition all the previous tenders will have to be scrapped and a new process will have to be followed No DPR or feasibility report has been made for this site This means that the Metro project which would have been in the service of Mumbaikars just next year has now been postponed indefinitelyKeep 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