Eknath Shinde decides to resume the metro car shed project at Aarey colony, with construction to begin soon.
Mumbai: On Thursday, the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde pulled out the stay on construction of the Metro 3 car shed at Aarey Colony and paved the way for its construction which was previously halted by the MVA government for saving the green lungs of the city, moving the project to Kanjurmarg.
The Urban Development Department(UDD) said that they have examined the matter and it is not something that should be raised in the cabinet. The UDD has even issued a letter to MMRCL in this regard to prepare the proposal and mobilise contractors.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis while defending the decision, alleged that the decision to shift the car shed to Kanjurmarg was taken by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to satisfy his ego and not in the interest of Mumbai. He further said,” If the car shed is shifted to Kanjurmarg, it will end up in cutting of more number of trees, the project will be delayed and crores of rupees will be wasted. If someone is still trying to stop the construction work (of the metro car shed at Aarey Colony) then it also raises the question of ill-intention .” Fadnavis said that the Thackeray-led government also constituted a committee headed by senior bureaucrat Manoj Saunik, which too had said that the car shed should be built at Aarey as it will not be feasible at Kanjurmarg.
It also said in its report that if shifted to Kanjurmarg, the car shed will not be completed in the next four years and will also result in a cost escalation of ₹20,000 crore.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that they will start construction work at the earliest.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) reports that about half of the land needed for the depot has been excavated. A total of 30 hectares of land will be used for the depot’s construction, 25 of which will be used for the station’s facilities, the depot, the maintenance area, the metro control centre, the staging area, and a train cleaning system for the metro train coaches.
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