A TOI CAMPAIGN - Even BJP looks divided on Metro shed at Aarey : The Times of India

Mumbai: CM And Khadse Give Statements That Do Not Jibe

If the technical committee ends up recommending Aarey Milk Colony as the best site for the Metro III car shed, the entire project may be jeopardized, given the strong opposition to the location from citizens and political parties. Both the Shiv Sena, which is a part of the ruling alliance, and the MNS have strongly opposed building the car shed in Aarey .

Even the BJP seems to be divided over the location. Senior minister Eknath Khadse on Wednesday affirmed that the car shed would be constructed in Aarey . Immediately thereafter, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted that no decision had been taken and people should not believe rumours.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL), which is executing the project, has already made it clear that it can not drastically modify the shed plan. The committee will meet for the last time on Friday and submit its report in a week.

“The car shed is the starting point for the Metro line,“ an MMRCL official said. “So if the site itself is undecided, then the project cannot get underway .“

Activists have already made it known that they will not agree to any modified plan and have categorically told the committee that there can not be a car shed in Aarey . The Environment Impact Assessment report had recommended Aarey as an ideal site as it is an open space and added that there would be room for expansion.

Environmentalist Rishi Agarwal, who has been leading the opposition to the Aarey car shed plan, said it was not only about cutting trees but the destruction of an entire ecosystem.

Recently , the state signed an MoU with the Netherlands for technical advice on the feasibility of laying a Metro track along the proposed 32km coastal road from Nariman Point to Malad. “There is a proposal to reduce the width of the coastal road and construct an underground Metro along it,“ a source said.