Maharashtra Congress slams Shinde govt's move to set up Metro car shed in Aarey
India Today
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole has condemned the government’s decision to shift the Mumbai Metro car shed in Aarey. He said that insisting on a car shed in Aarey is like playing with the health of Mumbaikars.
A day after Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the BJP-led state government took its first decision to shift the Mumbai Metro car shed to Aarey. Now, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole has condemned the government’s decision.
“Considering the environment, the car shed in Aarey has been proposed to be built at Kanjurmarg, but insisting on a car shed in Aarey again is like playing with the health of Mumbaikars,” said Patole.
Opposing to the construction of Metro car shed in Aarey and criticizing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Nana Patole said, “Mumbaikars and thousands of environmentalists had staged a massive agitation against the then Fadnavis government to prevent the car shed in Aarey. But using police force, the Fadnavis government cracked down on the protesters and cut down thousands of trees overnight. The subsequent Mahavikas Aghadi government decided not to have a car shed in Aarey. Hundreds of acres of land at Kanjur Marg were considered for the car shed but were scrapped by the central government and the opposition.”
Speaking on the issue, Patole said that he is not against development in the state but is against degrading of the environment. “Despite knowing that Mumbaikars would oppose the car shed at Aarey, thousands of crores of rupees were spent on the car shed and a large number of trees were cut down. We are not against development work, we are not against the Mumbai Metro project. The decision to set up a Metro project was first taken with the Congress-led government in mind. The Congress party does not stand in the way of development or opposes it. Our role is to develop but not to take root by degrading the environment. Patole also said that if there is an insistence on car shed in Aarey, then the public should understand whose interest it is to protect,” Patole added.
In 2019, residents of the area and environmentalists approached the Bombay High Court against the BJP-Shiv Sena government’s move to construct a shed at Arrey for its ongoing Metro project.
The Aarey Colony, sprawled across 1,287 hectares, is located adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and is known as the major green lung of Mumbai. Former CM Uddhav Thackeray had earlier ordered the relocation of the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg.
