‘Depot for phase 3 of Metro will not harm environment’

The construction work for the car depot for the 33.5km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro corridor, which will be built on 30 hectares in Aarey Colony, will be carried out in an eco-friendly way, the authority has assured.

The construction work for the car depot for the 33.5km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro corridor, which will be built on 30 hectares in Aarey Colony, will be carried out in an eco-friendly way, the authority has assured.

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While the corridor will be fully underground, the depot will come up in Aarey Colony, which has a substantial green cover.

UPS Madan, MMRDA commissioner, said, “We will come up with a plan for the construction of the metro depot to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on the environment. We will replant trees, which will have to be removed to make way for the depot.”

The 12sqm Aarey colony, which houses many species of animals including leopards, acts as buffer zone for the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

The MMRDA has claimed that the construction work will not have impact the biodiversity.

The state revenue department had, in March, asked the collector of Mumbai Suburban district to survey the plot as part of the process of handing it over to the MMRDA.

As the metro corridor will be 17-22 m deep, the MMRDA wil have to construct entry-exit points at street level. According to the MMRDA, there will be about 2 to 12 entry-exit points at 27 metro stations.

“The metro stations will have 2 to 12 entry-exit points depending on the number of roads and commuters at the stations,” said Madan.