Mumbai: Members of the Aarey Conservation Group moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday alleging that authorities have illegally changed the land use of the Aarey depot from a no-development zone (NDZ) to Metro car depot through a notification.
A petition filed by Amrita Bhattacharjee and Biju Kattain challenges the notification issued on August 24 by the State government under the Mumbai Regional Town Planning Act. They say the notification modified the sanctioned revised Development Plan 1991 for K East Ward. It changed the land bearing of Prajapur and Vyravalai villages, deleting 33 hectares of the Aarey depot land from NDZ and reserving it for ‘Metro car depot/workshop, allied users’.
The residents allege that the authorities have deliberately avoided constructing a Metro car depot on land available at Kanjur Marg.
The petition, which will be heard on Friday by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar, says the proposal to develop the Aarey depot had led to public outcry. On August 11, 2015, a technical committee of six members was set up to look into the environmental impact of the Metro car shed.
The committee had recommended that the car depot be relocated to Kanjur Marg, with a stabilising unit at Aarey Depot. The environmental experts noted that no investigation was conducted into alternative sites. Thus, the residents say the authorities have failed to comply with the recommendations
