Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday appealed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to relocate the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro 3 car shed to Aarey colony from Kanjurmarg.
In a letter addressed to Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Fadnavis said some officials were “misguiding” the government. He said going ahead with the Kanjurmarg plot would invite allegations that the Chief Minister is working in favour of certain builders.
“If the car shed is shifted to Kanjurmarg, it will end up cutting more number of trees. The project will be delayed and crores of rupees will be wasted,” he claimed. The BJP leader said it is also a “lie” that the Aarey car shed land is available only till 2031. While planning for the car shed, planners have estimated the population growth till 2053, he said.
“The technical committee set up for studying the car shed at Aarey land had recommended use of 25 hectares of land at the beginning. The remaining 1.4 hectares could be used later. There are 160 trees on that land which can be replanted in a phase-wise manner,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis said the depot would have enough space to accommodate the number of Metro cars that would be required in 2053. “On the inauguration day, it would have space for 42 trains with eight coaches, which will be sufficient for the eight to 10 years from 2031. According to Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic, in case of a rise in population, 12 Metro cars with eight coaches will have to be added,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis also said it is impractical to merge Metro 2 and 3 lines. He said the committee has already planned to relocate the car shed and the ongoing work is a farce. “The relocation would either lead to the loss of thousands of crores of rupees or an equal amount of profit to private individuals. You will be accused of being a party to it,” he said.
The Bombay High Court on December 14 last year stayed an order passed by the Mumbai suburban district collector allotting 102 acres of salt pan land in Kanjurmarg for the construction of an integrated Metro car shed. The court had also restrained the authorities from carrying out any construction work on the land.
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 depot which was earlier planned at Aarey colony, a green belt in Goregaon.
The Union government has filed a petition in the HC, challenging the October 1, 2020 order passed by the collector allotting the land for construction of the car shed, and said the land belongs to the Centre’s salt department.
