50,700 citizens object to 32-storey Metro Bhavan

Mumbai: Amidst the protest to save Aarey from concretisation, citizens are coming out in full force to voice their objection to the 32-storey Metro Bhavan to be built at Aarey.

Incidentally, the 2.03 hectare land, upon which the government has decided to erect the Metro Bhavan, has been noted as a “no development zone” or NDZ in the Mumbai Development Plan (DP) 2034.

Till Saturday, at least 50,700 objections were sent to the urban development department (UDD), stating that the said plot is fully covered with trees under the naturally forested area of Aarey.

The objection sent by the ‘Let India Breathe’ organisation read, “The plot also has a tributary of the adjoining Oshiwara River and is also designated as a green zone in the DP 2034 apart from NDZ. The plot also falls under the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The SGNP management comes under the provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act and thus, the change in land use cannot be permitted for any development und-er the Forest Conserv-ation Act and Wildlife Protection Act.”

“The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Sept-ember 5 has said that the ESZ monitoring committee’s permission should be acquired before any development. The final hearing is next month. Ironically, the head of the ESZ monitoring committee is the municipal commissioner (2017) under whom the DP was passed,” Environme-ntalist Stalin D. said.

Mr Stalin added that getting the Prime Minister to inaugurate the Metro Bhavan commercial complex at Aarey was a tactic to bulldoze all needed permissions.

The Metro Bhavan at Aarey has been planned as a state-of-the-art operation and control centre for all metro lines.