Environmental activist and Aam Aadmi Party’s Preeti Sharma Menon on Saturday said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (MMRCL) Managing Director Ashwini Bhide to consider Kanjurmarg and Kalina as an alternative site for a Mumbai Metro Line 3 car shed, currently proposed to be built in Aarey Colony.
After meeting the activists — Stalin Dayanand, Ram Subramanian, and Sanjeev Khandekar — along with the AAP’s national executive member Ms. Menon, at his residence in Malabar Hill, Mr. Fadnavis reportedly called Ms. Bhide and asked her to look into their concerns.
Mr. Dayanand said, “We had a 20-minute meeting with the CM. He was ill-informed that only 350 trees will be cut. I told him there were over 2,000 trees.” Mr. Dayanand said, “The CM was not convinced of Kanjurmarg as an option [for the car shed]. We told him that Kalina is another alternative. He then called Ms. Bhide and asked her to consider Kalina as an option alongside Aarey and get back to him.” However, Mr. Dayanand said Mr. Fadnavis did not agree to come on record with a statement.
No response from Bhide
However, Ms. Bhide did not respond to several attempts made by The Hindu to contact her on Saturday. The Chief Minister’s spokesperson Ravikiran Deshmukh said the group indeed met Mr. Fadnvais at his residence, but said he couldn’t confirm whether the CM made a phone call to Ms. Bhide.
Later in the day, the activists also met MNS chief Raj Thackeray who assured them of support.
Ms. Menon said Mr. Fadnavis specifically mentioned Kanjurmarg and Kalina, to Ms. Bhide. Ms. Menon also retweeted a photograph uploaded by Mr. Khandekar, which shows her with Mr. Fadnavis. The tweet, quoting Mr. Fadnavis, read, “No commitment, but ready to explore every possibility to move away.”
Another photograph shared by Mr. Dayanand shows all the activists with Mr. Fadnavis. The activists will now meet Ms. Bhide to make their suggestions to her.
R. Ramana, the executive director (planning) at MMRCL, said he was unaware whether Mr. Fadnavis had contacted Ms. Bhide on Saturday. However, he said no other land is feasible for the project except Aarey. “We studied the land in Kalina. It is university land. A committee report had said it is not possible to do construction there. The university also plans to use the land to build a campus there.”
As per Mr. Dayanand, 2,430 trees would have to be cut in Aarey Colony and 5,012 trees in the entire city for the construction of the project. The issue is currently in the Bombay High Court and the National Green Tribunal.
Best option
However, activists welcomed Saturday’s development. Amrita Bhattacharjee, an environmentalist with the Aarey Conservation Group, said, “Kalina is the best option. It is a vacant land and doesn’t have any trees. If the metro comes there, it will help Mumbai University students too.”
Another environmentalist, Priya Mishra, said, “Only reason why Aarey was selected was because of its larger area. A 2011 project report had shortlisted Kalina as one of the two sites [for the car shed].”
