Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has criticized the ruler Shiv Sena and his leadership for being “anti-development” and accused them of stalling key infrastructure projects for Mumbai development. He blamed Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray for mishandling the Covid-19 pandemic, excessive electricity bills and cases against activist journalists.
Fadnavis said the Metro Line 3 car shed was moved to Kanjurmarg just to satisfy the ego of Shiv Sena’s leadership. He stated that the change will delay the project by five years and cause a cost increase of Rs 4 billion.
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“I had stuck with the Aarey car shed proposal for nine months after taking over as prime minister in 2014 just to see if there was an alternative to avoid environmental damage. After verifying all other options, a committee of senior officials said that Aarey was the only option, as the land of Kanjumarg was in litigation and would lead to large losses and delays in the project, ”he said at a meeting to point out Bharatiya. Janata Party strategy for the 2022 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Even the committee appointed by the Thackeray government under [bureaucrat] Manoj Saunik has recommended keeping the deposit at Aarey for the same reasons cited by the previous committee. But the recommendation of his own committee was overridden by changing the deposit to Kanjurmarg. “
Fadnavis said the car shed in Kanjurmarg will also lead to environmental destruction due to construction. “When we proposed an affordable housing plan in the saline land for the poor during our tenure, Thackeray opposed the proposal citing the environmental reason. How can they allow for a car shed that will need similar construction resulting in environmental problems? “, Said.
Fadnavis said the Thackerays were misleading people by saying they had reported 800 acres as forest land in Aarey. “We had notified it as an eco-sensitive area during our tenure and, as such, construction was prohibited. By changing the language, the Thackerays have been misleading people, ”he said.
Fadnavis also attacked the government for opposing the Bullet Train project, saying that the 50 billion rupee investment in Maharashtra for the project would have boosted the state’s GDP.
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