Metro-3 panel ignored objections on Aarey

After a protest by environmentalists on building a car depot on a 30-hectare land in the colony, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had, in February, set up the committee

The six-member expert committee gave its nod to the proposed use of a plot in Aarey Colony for the construction of a car depot or stabling yard for Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3, ignoring the objections raised by two experts who are part of the panel.

The first recommendation gave the option of a car depot at Kanjurmarg, with 16 stabling lines. (For representation)

The members — Dr Rakesh Kumar, director of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Dr Shyam Asolekar, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay – objected to the proposal, on grounds that it would have a negative impact on biodiversity. Kumar and Asolekar were made part of the committee because they could understand the environmental issues better than the four bureaucrats on the team.

After a protest by environmentalists on building a car depot on a 30-hectare land in the colony, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had, in February, set up the committee. The committee submitted its report, with recommendations, to the state government. The first recommendation gave the option of a car depot at Kanjurmarg, with 16 stabling lines. Another suggestion was building a double-decker car depot on a 20-hectare plot in Aarey Colony, if the state failed to acquire the plot in Kanjurmarg.

UPS Madan, chairman of the committee and commissioner of MMRDA, said the recommendations were submitted to the state, with a note of dissent from these two members. According to sources, the dissenting members said tree felling and subsequent construction activities could lead to destruction of local biodiversity.

Aarey Colony is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, including leopards, but cannot be termed forest land, as it comes under the department of dairy development.

The apprehensions about the impact on the biodiversity were overruled by the bureaucrats in the committee.

“Why were these environment experts appointed to the committee if their suggestions were to be ignored? The majority that favoured the construction of the car depot are bureaucrats. They wanted the depot in the colony from Day 1,” said Anand Pendharkar of Save Aarey Group.

A state bureaucrat said, “The entire colony cannot be called a forest. There are commercial activities and RMC (cement) plants in and around the colony.”