2,563 objections on Metro Bhavan at Aarey; state govt yet to hold hearing

Despite receiving 2,563 suggestions and objections on the proposed Metro Bhavan at Aarey Milk Colony, the Maharashtra government is yet to hold a public hearing

Despite receiving 2,563 suggestions and objections on the proposed Metro Bhavan at Aarey Milk Colony, the Maharashtra government is yet to hold a public hearing for citizens on the change in land-use. The government had invited suggestions and objections on the change in land-use for 2.03 hectare of land in the contested Aarey area from no-development zone to ‘Metro Bhavan and Metro Rail allied users’ in August 2019.

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In a reply to a right-to-information (RTI) query by HT, the town planning department said that the suggestions and objections by citizens have been sent to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to obtain their remarks. “We will soon call citizens for a public hearing on the suggestions/objections. Post this, a report will be submitted to the state government,” the reply to the RTI stated.

MMRDA, which is executing 13 Metro lines in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), has planned a central operation and control centre on a 2-hectare plot at Aarey. The basement-plus-27-floor building will be constructed at a cost of ₹1,033 crore.

An MMRDA official confirmed that the authority had mainly received objections stating that the Metro Bhavan be shifted from Aarey. “We have sent our remarks to the town planning authority,” the official said.

The decision to construct the Metro Bhavan at Aarey will be a sticky subject for the current state regime. After assuming office in November 2019, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had stalled construction of the Metro-3 car shed, stating that there will no more tree-cutting in the green lung. However, the government has not made its stance clear on the Metro Bhavan plan.

Zoru Bhathena, an environmental activist who had filed an objection in 2019, said, “The authority is just sitting on the issue now. Also, when the town planning had invited objections, we had pointed that the land in question is not a no-development zone but a green zone and its land use cannot be changed without obtaining clearance from the environment ministry.”

Yash Marwah, another activist said, “It’s already been seven months since the state called for objections. There must be a public hearing as soon as possible so citizens can put forth their viewpoints on the plan.” In September 2019, 51,655 Mumbaiites had objected to the construction of Metro Bhavan at Aarey on an online portal run by Marwah.