Updated: December 17, 2020 2:36:40 am
The state government had ordered the transfer of the land from the Kanjurmarg salt flat to the Metro car shed. (Photo: Deepak Joshi)
The Bombay High Court’s decision to suspend the transfer of 102 acres of land for a Metro wagon shed in Kanjurmarg has sparked a war of words between the leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the BJP. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who proposed the idea to build the Metro car shed in Aarey, said the decision to relocate the car shed was the result of the “arrogance” of the Thackeray government and that the government should recognize your mistake and take the car shed back to Aarey. Meanwhile, the MVA responded to the BJP by blaming it for deliberately creating roadblocks in the various development works in the state in the last year.
“The decision to relocate the Metro car shed was the result of the arrogance of the Thackeray government. There is no reason to justify their action, ”said Fadnavis. He added that a committee created by the state government had warned of the dangers of changing the project. “The state government should accept their mistake and without getting into a prestigious battle start working on the Metro car shed in Aarey Colony,” said Fadnavis.
Chief Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar responded without naming the BJP that no one should play politics in development works to paralyze projects. “It seems that the MVA government’s decision to move the Aarey car depot to Kanjurmarg hurt some people, so the Center took an extreme step,” Pawar said.
Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray was more cautious, saying they would formulate a strategy after obtaining the detailed order from the court. “We await the detailed written order to decide the future course of action,” Aaditya said. However, he claimed that the terrain in Kanjurmarg is crucial not only for Metro 3 but for three other Metro lines. “This land is crucial for subway lines 6, 4 and 14, in addition to 3, as it will save the government almost 5.5 billion rupees and will be a nodal point for 1 million citizens,” he added.
Calling the HC’s suspension order unfortunate, Congressional spokesman Sachin Sawant said that the BJP and the central government have been deliberately creating obstacles in the various development works in the state in the last year. “In accordance with the instructions of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, his department had written a letter to the salt commissioner in July indicating that the process of assigning Kanjurmarg to the state government should begin. Now all of a sudden the central government has changed its stance, at the urging of the state BJP leaders, on HC to stop the project, ”Sawant said.
The Metro car shed is a prestigious issue for Shiv Sena as he had backed the environmentalists who opposed him at Aarey Colony. A day after taking office, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had ordered work stopped in the Aarey colony. Before the Assembly elections last year, Aaditya had voiced opposition to the car shed and logging in Aarey.
The outcome of the legal battle on the land of Kanjurmarg will have its impact on BMC polls in early 2022, as Shiv is likely to portray the party as pro-environment and take credit for changing the car shed. and declare Aarey as forest.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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