Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the trial runs of the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro rail line 3 in Mumbai will be held underground at Marol-Maroshi, which is outside the Aarey green belt.
Notably, the Thackeray-led state government had earlier decided to shift the Metro car shed from Aarey to suburban Kanjurmarg.
The CM in a statement on Thursday instructed officials that not a single tree in Aarey should be affected by the Metro trial runs.
At present, the underground path for the Metro line is being constructed, he said.
"The trial runs for the Metro line 3 will be done underground at Marol-Maroshi, outside the Aarey area," the CM said.
The Chief Minister said the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro line 3 is aimed at easing traffic congestion and pollution in Mumbai.
Technical tests of eight compartments (of Metro train) manufactured by an Andhra Pradesh-based company have been completed and now they will be brought to Mumbai for trial runs of 10,000 km, he said in the statement.
Later, the train will be run on the Colaba-SEEPZ line as well. After the trial runs, 31 such trains will run on the route, he said.
The 33.5-km-long line 3 will be the first underground Metro line in Mumbai.
The previous BJP-led Maharashtra government had decided to construct the car shed for the Mumbai Metro line 3 at Aarey Colony in the western suburbs, despite opposition from environmentalists and activists to the vast tree-cutting for the project.
The present Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, however, took a decision to shift the car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg.
The Centre and the Maharashtra government were locked in a tussle over ownership of the land earmarked by the State for constructing the car depot in Kanjurmarg area.
