Aaditya seeks Governor’s intervention in shifting Metro car shed out of Aarey

Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government started construction of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro, Yuva Sena Chief Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday met Governor Vidyasagar Rao to shift the Metro car depot out of the ecologically-sensitive Aarey Colony.

Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government started construction of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday met Governor Vidyasagar Rao to shift the Metro car depot out of the ecologically-sensitive Aarey Colony.

Thackeray said there are enough instances of wildlife found in Goregaon’s Aarey Colony though the environmental impact report for the project mentions that Aarey has no wildlife.

Requesting the governor to intervene, Thackeray said there are enough instances of wildlife found in Goregaon’s Aarey Colony though the environmental impact report for the project mentions that Aarey has no wildlife.

“Sadly, the government report and the head of the Metro project states that Aarey is not a forest, whereas currently the forest has a vibrant biodiversity, including almost 30 leopards. What hurts the city is impatient and impulsive decisions as this, when the Metro yard could have easily been shifted to a nearby private golf course,” Thackeray said in a letter to the governor.

The Shiv Sena, a junior partner in the BJP-led state government, has been strongly against the state’s plan of building a car shed for the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro on about 20 hectares, as well as displacement of long-time residents in Girgaum for the project.

Thackeray also requested the governor to prevent opening up the city’s eastern waterfront, currently locked under the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), for residential and commercial development.

“The land is the size of three times the mill lands, eight times the length of Marine Drive. It could be developed into a lush green open space with a promenade rather than allowing builders and land sharks to grab land in the garb of housing,” Thackeray said.