Former Sena corporator writes to Japanese PM, JICA over Aarey row

Avkash Jadhav, has written to the Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and the president of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) India to draw attention to JICA’s tie-up with MMRCL for the corridor

With widespread protests over the decision to cut or transplant 2,646 trees in Aarey for a Metro-3 car shed, former nominated civic corporator from the Shiv Sena, Avkash Jadhav, has written to the Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and the president of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) India to draw attention to JICA’s tie-up with MMRCL for the corridor. He requested an appointment with the Japanese Consul General on Monday. “What is happening in Aarey Colony for Metro-3 is contrary to JICA’s environment policies. It would seem otherwise that these policies apply for environment protection only when it’s about projects in their own country,” he said.

Trenches dug and land leveled using mud for construction of car shed near unit 19 Aarey for Metro III project. (Satyabrata Tripathy/ Hindustan Times)

Meanwhile, the Congress’s Mumbai unit on Sunday staged a protest at Aarey Colony by worshipping the trees in tribal hamlets and slammed the Sena, calling its opposition a “sham.”