New row over Metro carshed site flares up between Centre, Maharashtra

A fresh row has erupted between the Centre and Maharashtra government on Tuesday over the latters decision to shift the Mumbai Metro carshed project from Aarey Colony to the Kanjurmarg siteThe Centres Department of Promotion of Industry amp Internal Trade DPIIT has written to the state government saying the construction of the carshed on the Kanjurmarg site would be against the interest of the Government of India and claimed ownership of the 102 acre land hereDPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said in his October 15 letter that the improper and unilateral action of the Mumbai Suburban District Collector and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has caused severe loss to the DPIITI would request you to take necessary steps and to direct the Collector to withdraw the orders passed in this regard in order to protect the interests of the Government of India he saidIn a widelyhailed move Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on October 11 had announced the shifting of the Metro carshed project from Aarey Colony to the Kanjurmarg land though the opposition BJP slammed the decisionHowever even in wake of the Centres letter the Maharashtra government has made it clear that it would not stop the carshed work in Kanjurmarg even as the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Shiv SenaNationalist Congress PartyCongress slammed the move while the BJP came out in support of the Centre on the issueEnvironment and Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray has reiterated that the land belongs to the state government and Shiv Sena Mayor Kishori Pednekar alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched against the stateShe said that an affidavit was filed in Bombay High Court during the tenure of the previous BJPled government saying that the Kanjurmarg land belongs to the state governmentHowever now if the Centre is claiming ownership on the land does it mean that the title of the land changes with the change in the Chief Minister Pednekar askedAttacking the Centre NCP Spokesperson and Minister Nawab Malik said that way back in 2002 the Centre had transferred large tracts of saltpan lands to the state governmentFirst the BJP said it belonged to private owners now they say it belongs to the Central government The BJP is only creating hurdles in the work of Mumbai Metro carshed Its the BJPs conspiracy to stop the Metro project he allegedNCP MP Supriya Sule said this was an injustice to the state with the BJP destroying the countrys cooperative federal structure and the country is now lapsing into an undeclared state of EmergencyCondemning the Centres new diktat Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that since 1981 the land ownership is with the state government and accused Narendra Modiled BJP of continuously creating obstacles for the MVA governmentCongress leader and Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh wondered know why the state BJP never raised the issue of land ownership during its fiveyear tenure 20142019 and it was being raked up now when the MVA government was trying to implement the Metro rail projectOn the other hand BJP leaders Ashish Shelar Kirit Somaiya and Ram Kadam targetted the MVA government accusing it of telling lies to the public on the ownership of the Kanjurmarg landThe three parties government has a new style of governance put development projects in a limbo then stop them and later misguide This is the fate of Metro carshed also Shelar saidLast month senior Sena leader and Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission VNSSM President Kishore Tiwari had accused Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis of violating the oath of office taken as Chief Minister by disclosing sensitive information in public which could instigate unnecessary litigationsTiwari further contended that Fadnavis was attempting to protect the interests of at least three top builders in Mumbai who are eyeing the Kanjurmarg land which could be worth around Rs 1 lakh crore and demanded a probe into the matter by the Mumbai Police Crime BranchKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here 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 newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever