In its address to the State today, the CM said the government had previously declared 600 acres of Aarey’s land as forest, but it has now been revised to 800 acres.
“There will be no infringement of the rights of the tribes in the Aarey Forest. The state cabinet has decided to drop the cases against people who had protested against logging in the Aarey neighborhood last year, ”Thackeray said.
“The land will be available at a zero rate. The building that has been erected in the Aarey Forest will be used for some other public purpose. An expense of approximately Rs 100 million was incurred for this purpose and will not be wasted. It is necessary to conserve and protect biodiversity in Aarey. Nowhere is there an 800-acre jungle in an urban setting. Mumbai has a natural forest cover, ”he added.
A few hours later, after CM addressed the state, Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted:
In a clear indication of the state government’s determination to move the car shed out of Aarey, the facility’s contractor had begun cleaning construction material from the site last month.
The Aarey Metro car shed site is being cleaned up and closed
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) project manager SK Gupta said Tuesday that when the state government issued the suspension order at the Metro 3 Aarey car shed in December, work was underway at the site.
In September, Thackeray had directed MMRC and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to prepare a detailed project report for an alternative site. The two places identified were Kanjurmarg, where the government has a 41-hectare saline land for the Metro 6 car shed, and the other was in Pahadi, Goregaon (West), where MMRDA has 89 hectares for a car shed.
After the Aarey row, the car shed construction has stalled for quite some time. In December last year, the CM had appointed a committee to find an alternate site for the car shed and kept all construction on the 33-hectare Aarey site.
On October 4, 2019, hundreds of trees were cut down in the Aarey neighborhood under the BJP-led government for the construction of a Metro car shed. Soon about 200 people gathered and protested near Picnic Point in Aarey Colony. The police then searched 38 students and activists and arrested 29 of them, including six women. However, within 24 hours of becoming the new CM, Thackeray had suspended construction of the Metro car shed in Aarey pending an overhaul.
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