Setback for MVA in shifting carshed out of Aarey Colony as HC stays Kanjurmarg shed work

The Thackeray government had scrapped Devendra Fadnavis government’s decision to build carshed at Aarey Colony despite opposition from environment activists and citizen groups who had insisted that Aarey wad one of the last green spots in Mumbai

In a setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s plan to shift controversial Metro 3 car shed out of Aarey Milk Colony, the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday ordered an interim stay on the Mumbai collector’s order to transfer 102 acres of land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for constructing the carshed.

State environment minister Aaditya Thackeray said they will await detailed court order to decide future course of action. (Pratik Chorge/HT photo)

Metro 3 is proposed to be an underground line linking Colaba-Bandra-Seepz. Thackeray government had scrapped Devendra Fadnavis government’s decision to build carshed at Aarey Colony despite opposition from environment activists and citizen groups who had insisted that Aarey wad one of the last green spots in Mumbai.

State environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday 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 added, “This land is crucial for Metro Line 6, 4 and 14, apart from 3, as it will save almost Rs5,500 crore of Govt and be a nodal point for 1 crore citizens.”

In a major decision, the MVA government had announced shifting the carshed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg in order to save the green lung. It was further decided that the land at Kanjurmarg will be utilised for Metro 6 (Swami Samath Nagar-Vikhroli), 4 (Wadala-Kasarwadavali) and 14 (Kanjurmarg-Badlapur).

According to DPIIT, the Centre had filed a writ petition against several salt department lands — including the Kanjurmarg plot — and the decision was pending before the HC. The letter, signed by DPIIT secretary Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, went on to say, “Improper and unilateral action of the collector and MMRDA has caused severe loss to DPIIT. I would request you to take necessary steps and restrain MMRDA from taking any further steps and to direct [the] collector to withdraw the orders passed in this regard in order to protect the interests of the Government of India.”

The state, however, continued to maintain that the land belongs to Maharashtra and the work continued on site. It pointed out that the revenue authority had ruled that the land belonged to the state government.