Anushka Mansharamani
On 16th December, the Bombay High Court passed an order to temporarily pause the construction of the Metro car shed project in Mumbai at the new site, Kanjurmarg.
This order comes as a grave setback because, in October, the Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, had said that the car shed for the metro rail would be shifted to Kanjurmarg from Aarey.
This was done after vast protests took place due to the decision taken previously by the former BJP government of Devendra Fadnavis.
However, the High Court put a stay on the construction site and asked the government to wait until further notified.
This order was passed while an ongoing scuffle between the Centre and the State over the ownership of the site.
The centre filed a petition in the High Court claiming that the new site belonged to its salt department and the government cannot use this site for construction.
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni allowed the petition and scheduled the final hearing in February 2021.
To the order passed by the High Court, Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra Environment Minister via Twitter, said that they await the final detailed order to decide the future course of action.
He further stated that the land is very critical as it would save approximately Rs. 5,500 crores of the government and would be a central point for one crore citizens.
On 15th December, Uddhav Thackeray, during the state assembly discussion stated that
“Politics shouldn’t come in the way of the development of the city. More than ownership, what is important is how the project will bring benefit to people.”
Activists fiercely opposed the decision of allowing the cutting down of the trees in Aarey as this is known as Mumbai’s last “green lung.”
In October, Uddhav Thackeray directed the immediate withdrawal of all the police cases filed against the protesters.
A government land of 102-acre at Kanjurmarg was handed over to the MMRDA, and the cost of shifting the project was estimated to be approximately Rs. 200 crores.
