BJP, Shiv Sena lock horns as MVA govt proposes shifting metro car shed to bullet-train project site
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed officials to explore shifting of Metro car shed from the proposed Kanjurmarg land under litigation to other sites which include the land set aside for the Centre's Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. Thackeray said Aarey car shed spread over 30 hectares was just for Metro line 3, while the 40-hectare Kanjurmarg land would be used for the car shed for Metro lines 3, 4 (WadalaGhatkopar-MulundTeen Hath NakaKasarvadavali) and 6 (Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Kanjurmarg).
It will also be a junction for Metro line 14, which will go up to Ambernath and Badlapur (in neighbouring Thane), Thackeray said justifying the choice of land at Kanjurmarg for the Metro car shed. He said by shifting the car shed from Aarey Colony, the state saved a forest and environment.
The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor is PM Narendra Modi's pet project worth Rs 1.1 lakh crores.
MVA's claims misleading: Fadnavis
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has dismissed Thackeray's contention that relocating the metro car shed project to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony in Mumbai would serve future needs, including the availability of land that might be needed for the expansion of the infrastructure for metro lines.
Fadnavis, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly, said it seemed the CM has not read a report of a high-powered committee set up by his own government on the "financial implications" associated with relocating the project site.
"CM Thackeray's remark that additional land would have been required for the carshed in future had it came up in Aarey was misleading," Fadnavis stated.
The Centre and the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government are locked in a tussle over ownership of the land earmarked by the state for constructing the car shed depot which was earlier planned at Aarey Colony.
Uddhav says open for talks
On Sunday, Thackeray said he is open for a resolution of the Kanjurmarg Metro car shed land row in Mumbai through dialogue with the Centre and asserted it is not an "ego issue" for him.
Speaking on the Kanjurmarg car shed land dispute, he lamented that the central government moved court against the state over the issue.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the order passed by Mumbai suburban district collector allotting 102 acres of salt pan land in Kanjurmarg area for the construction of the integrated metro car shed. It also restrained the authorities from carrying out any construction work at the said land.
The previous BJP-led state government had decided to construct the car shed for Metro line 3 (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ) at Aarey Colony, despite opposition from environmentalists and activists to the vast tree-cutting for the project.
