HC stay on Mumbai Metro car shed will hit 4 Metro lines

Maharashtra government says land crucial for Metro-3, 4, 6, 14, will save project cost; Opposition says state’s shift from Aarey Colony was hasty, flawed move without proper thought

The Bombay high court’s (HC) interim order on Wednesday to stay the transfer of the 102-acre plot at Kanjurmarg to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the Metro car shed will prove to be a roadblock not only for Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz), but also Metro-6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli) works. While more than 60% of Metro-3 civil works have been completed, the MMRDA has completed around 20% civil construction works on Metro-6, officials said.

The land in Aarey Colony where the Metro car shed was supposed to be built previously. (HT Photo)

The authority was planning to build a common car shed for these two corridors and also integrate the under-construction Metro-4 (Wadala-Kasarwadavli) and proposed line 14 (Kanjurmarg-Badlapur), effectively making it Mumbai’s ‘transit hub’.

A senior official from MMRDA, requesting anonymity, said, “While the state was considering a plot in Pahadi-Goregaon too for Metro-6 depot, there are legal issues there. The Kanjurmarg plot was considered the most feasible to integrate all lines.”

Metro-3 has already seen a cost escalation of ₹11,000 crore and is now pegged at ₹32,000 crore, while Metro-6 is pegged at a cost of ₹6,716 crore. While the MMRDA is also looking at Mogharpada to build a depot for line 4, it is facing entitlement issues there too.

According to a report from the Manoj Saunik committee, appointed by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to look at alternative plots for Metro-3 depot, the per-day delay in executing Metro-3 costs around ₹5.87 crore. A delay in operation by 2.5 years would work out to ₹5,356 crore, while a delay of four years would mean another ₹8,570 crore. Also, the Metro authorities have stated that construction of the car depot would require a minimum of two years. One phase of Metro-3 was to be originally operational by December 2021.

The official also said the increasing delay in allotting land for Metro-3 car shed will majorly impact the schedule of the project, which is at a crucial stage.

On Wednesday, state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted, “Hon’ble HC has granted a stay to Kanjurmarg work. We await the detailed written order to decide the future course of action.”

He further said, “This land is crucial for Metro Line 6, 4 and 14, apart from 3, as it will save almost ₹5500 crores of Govt and be a nodal point for 1 crore citizens (sic).”

RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, however, did not comment on the impact of the order at a press conference in Wadala on Wednesday evening. He said, “We are waiting for the detailed order.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was scathing in its remarks on the state government’s decision.

Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the MVA government’s decision to shift the car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg was only to satisfy their ego. “Be it the HC, Supreme Court or the green tribunal - all had given a go-ahead for the plan and the state had already spent ₹100 crore at Aarey. The BJP government had also considered the Kanjurmarg plot, but we knew that it was in dispute. The HC’s decision is an embarrassment for the state government.”

He also took a jibe at Aaditya Thackeray’s tweet, saying young leaders must read reports before tweeting.