Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday hinted that a metro car depot would be built at Aarey Colony. However, Shiv Sena leader and industries minister Subhash Desai, who was also present at the event with Mr Javadekar, opposed the move later while speaking to the media. Mr Desai said his party would not allow the depot to come up at Aarey Colony.
“It is sad that 350 trees would be cut for the metro car depot at Aarey Colony. But development should not be affected. One has to see how the trees can be replanted. There is a new technology to replant them. This is sustainable development,” Mr Javadekar said, while speaking at the 11th National Convention on Sustainable Development Goals.
The statement came a day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said 350 trees would have to be axed to make way for the metro depot at Aarey Colony.
However, Mr Desai said that his party would continue to oppose the car depot at Aarey Colony. “If we go by the public outcry, the metro depot will not come there. But we need to find another place for it. We will oppose the metro car shed at Aarey Colony,” he said.
Shiv Sena has been opposing the project since the start as it would pose environmental hazards in the area. Even the MNS has been opposing the possible damage to the environment due to the car depot.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has decided to go ahead with the plan to construct a car depot at Aarey Colony, instead of the Kanjurmarg plot for the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 corridor. The decision was taken a few days ago in a board meeting of the MMRC, which is headed by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner U.P.S. Madan.
The ball is now in the state government’s court as it must decide whether to approve the decision to construct the depot or not, said sources from the MMRC. The plan to construct the depot at Aarey Colony has met opposition from activists and politicians, who have said that it would harm the environment and wildlife within Aarey Colony.
