Greens question Rs 1,500-cr figure to move Mumbai Metro depot

A day after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Metro III depot would have to be built in the ecosensitive Aarey Colony because shifting it to Kanjurmarg would cost an additional Rs 1500 crore environmentalists have written a strong letter to him to express their disappointment The green warriors further claim that the Metro authorities and the CM are lying and deliberately inflating the cost to avoid moving the project out of AareyGreen warriors have protested the plan to build the Metro depot in Aarey Colony insisting Kanjurmarg or even Kalina is a better alternative with less ecological damage File picCM Fadnavis had made the statement on Friday while replying to a question in the Assembly ldquoShifting of the car depot from Aarey to other location will cost an extra Rs 1500 crore and the commuters who will travel via Metro Line III will have to face the burden in terms of paying high ticket rates So we think that Aarey land is an ideal location for the car depotrdquo he had said adding that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC would need the extra R1500 crore to strengthen the marshy land before constructionAlso Read Developer offered land for Metro car depot but govt silent on itStalin D who is from NGO Vanashakti and has long been a part of the Save Aarey campaign told this reporter ldquoI think MMRC and CM are deliberately making a misleading statement that the cost will increase by Rs 1500 crore if the car depot is shifted from Aarey to Kanjurmarg Even a layman can understand that strengthening the marshy land at Kanjurmarg will not need so much moneyrdquoIn his letter to the CM written on behalf of the Save Aarey campaign and the NGO Vanashakti Stalin states lsquoYou have said on camera that you are committed to protecting Mumbairsquos green spaces and by supporting the destruction of Aarey you are doing the oppositehellip We humbly request you not to be misled by wrong facts and figuresrsquoFadnavis also said that according to the new project plan far fewer trees would have to be felled 350500 and added that the MMRC would plant 3000 trees in compensation However this has not gone down with citizens campaigning to save the biodiversityrich Aarey from construction They argue that even if the cost increases it will be worth it to shift the Metro yard to KanjurmarglsquoWorth itrsquoSudam Navle an Andheri resident who visits Aarey five days a week for morning walks said ldquoI seriously donrsquot understand why everyone mdash including the CM mdash is speaking only about trees The Metro car depot at Aarey will have a negative impact on the entire biodiversity so the government should spend the extra R1500 crore and move the depot to Kanjurmarg The added benefit is that this will bring down the traffic on JVLR road reducing pollution and improving travel speed and connectivityrdquoRead Story Save Aarey CM MMRC out of sync over Mumbai MetroIII car depotThe same point was reiterated in Stalin Drsquos letter to the CM The letter stated that by shifting the Metro yard to Kanjurmarg the authorities would automatically provide transportation to the neglected areas of Powai and Chandivli which have burgeoning population but no rail or bus depots nearby Apart from that the entire population along the JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road has to put up with severe traffic congestion as this key road connects east to west This traffic burden would be reduced by shifting the Metro car depot and alignment Stalin further insists that the cost of Rs 1500 crore canrsquot be considered a waste as residents from Jogeshwari to Kanjurmarg will also be able to use the Metro