Reversing MVA govt. decision, Maharashtra Cabinet plans to move Metro car shed project to Aarey

Shifting of the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg was the first decision that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi had taken in 2019.

In the first Cabinet meeting of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday, the Advocate General of Maharashtra was told to make an application to the Bombay High Court on Friday stating that the government would move the Metro car shed back to Aarey from Kanjurmarg.

On October 4, 2019, the High Court paved the way for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) to construct a car shed for Mumbai Metro Line 3 by upholding the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Tree Authority’s move to cut 2,646 trees from Aarey milk colony, which led to protests by thousands of Mumbaikars.

A Division Bench of the then Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre had said, “The Greens fail in the instant petition because they have lost touch with the procedure to be followed as per law.” The decision had come in a bunch of petitions, one among them was a public interest litigation plea filed by resident Zoru Bhathena challenging a resolution passed by the BMC’s Tree Authority on August 29 to cut 2,646 trees at Aarey colony to make way for the Metro car shed.

The Bench also rejected the contention stating that MMRCL had scaled down the project with respect to the number of trees to be cut and that in itself was proof of the decision being fair, transparent and based on reason. The court had noted, the Tree Authority’s decision to axe almost 3,000 trees was ‘without application of mind’.

Incidentally, shifting of the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg was the first decision that the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi had taken in 2019.

In March 2021, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority had told the High Court that Kanjurmarg plot was better suited than the Aarey as the land admeasuring 102 acres from survey No. 275 of village Kanjur was required for constructing the car shed for Metro lines 3,4 and 6 and also an interchange station for proposed line 14.