Explained | The BJP-Shiv Sena stalemate over the Metro-3 Aarey car shed in Mumbai

The Centre recently urged the Maharashtra government to keep the car shed at Aarey Colony and not shift it to Kanjurmarg

The stalemate over the Metro-3 car shed in Mumbai is continuing with the Centre recently urging the Maharashtra government to keep the car shed at Aarey colony.

However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which has already declared the 600 acres of land near Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in suburban Mumbai as a ‘forest’, wants to shift the car shed to Kanjurmarg. Due to the continuous tussle between former allies BJP and Shiv Sena, the Metro-3 project, which was sanctioned in 2015 and started in 2019, is yet to be completed.

2019 October: SC stalls tree-felling for Metro amid protests

In October 2019, residents near Aarey colony staged massive protests after authorities from Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) cut down 2,656 trees in the area for constructing the Metro-3 line car shed.

Amid the massive protests, arrests and political faceoff, the Bombay High Court rejected pleas of activists seeking a stay on the cutting of trees at Aarey. The tree-felling had been okayed by the Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Later, the Supreme Court put an interim stay on the felling of trees in Aarey colony, asking the government to maintain status quo. MMRCL informed that 2,141 of the 2,185 trees permitted to be cut down has been felled and 23,846 trees had been planted in their place elsewhere.

2019 November: MVA government stalls Aarey metro-3 car shed construction