It is reported that Eknath Shinde has directed the Advocate General to claim in court that the shed will be erected in Aarey Colony.
Mumbai: According to sources, Eknath Shinde has pushed to roll-back the stance of the Uddhav Thackeray administration on the contentious Metro vehicle shed proposal in Mumbai just hours after getting office as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
According to reports, Mr. Shinde has asked Attorney General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to submit in court that the Devendra Fadnavis administration will persevere with proposals to construct the Metro vehicle shed at Aarey Colony in 2019.
The controversy began in 2019 when the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for approval to cut down trees at Aarey Colony, an urban forest that many referred to as Mumbai’s “green lung.” This triggered a wave of protests by environmental activists in Mumbai.
Soon after the BMC sanctioned the project, a wave of protests erupted. The location chosen for the Metro vehicle shed is not categorized as biodiversity or forest land, the then-chief minister Fadnavis claimed as opposition intensified. “Why we save trees because we want to reduce the carbon footprint. So, we need to understand one thing that how much carbon footprint is going to be reduced due to the underground Metro,” he said.
After the Assembly elections later that year, the Shiv Sena broke up its alliance with the BJP, and Uddhav Thackeray’s Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition was established.
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