We stand vindicated, says Aaditya after Maha govt demands Kanjurmarg land for Metro depot
After taking cognisance of citizens’ and activists’ protests, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government had shifted the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg.
Mumbai, April 15: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday raised questions about the state government’s reported proposal to transfer 15 hectares land in Kanjurmarg to the Metro 6 car depot, and said that his government’s stand—that the land belonged to the state government—had now been vindicated.
“When we decided to shift the car depot for Metro 3 from Aarey to Kanjurmarg for ecological and financial feasibility reasons, the Maharashtra BJP halted it,” said Aaditya in a press conference held at the Thackeray residence Matoshree in Bandra. “The BJP made a private builder stake a claim on the land; the central government’s salt commissioner also went to court, saying the land belonged to the Centre. It was a systematic attempt to hinder the project that arose out of the ruling parties’ anti-Mumbai and anti-Maharashtra mindset. As soon as the Thackeray government was toppled, the cases were withdrawn and the car depot for Metro-3 was shifted back to Aarey.”
Aaditya said that since the revenue department had directed the collector to transfer 15 hectares of land to MMRDA, the MVA government’s stand was vindicated. “Our proposal to construct an integrated car shed for Metro lines 3, 6, and 4 and 14 would have saved ₹10,000 crore and the environment as well,” he said. “Now the question is: what will happen to the remaining land at the Kanjurmarg site? Will it go to builder and contractor friends of the ruling parties? This is nothing but a type of scam and misuse of public money. The metro depots for lines 4 and 14 are being constructed in Thane, the constituency of chief minister (Eknath Shinde). Questions remain about who will benefit from the land acquisition and contracts for the construction of these depots.”
After taking cognisance of citizens’ and activists’ protests, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government had shifted the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg. Its former ally, the BJP, had then raised objections about the ownership of the land, which, Aaditya averred, were nothing more than deliberate stumbling blocks placed in the MVA government’s path.
Reacting to the allegations by Aaditya, BJP leader Ashish Shelar said, “The young leader has been speaking without any basic study about the project. A committee headed by a senior IAS officer appointed by the Thackeray government had recommended the car depot at Aarey. The wrong decision by the Thackeray government to shift it to Kanjurmarg, after 25 percent of the car shed had already been constructed, led to a daily loss of ₹5.50 crore for the two and a half years of the Thackeray government.”