Row over Aarey continues in Maharashtra; activists hold protests
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the protests at Aarey colony over Metro car shed project were “genuine in some respects and sponsored in others”.
The political slugfest over the construction of a metro rail car shed in Aarey milk colony continued on Sunday, with Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray saying that the opposition to the project was to save Mumbai’s biodiversity and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleging that the protests were “genuine in some respects and sponsored in others”.
Environmental activists and some political parties, including the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and the AAP, on Sunday staged a protest at the Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon, against the Maharashtra government’s proposal to build a Metro-3 car shed at the site.
Holding placards, the protesters raised slogans against the new government’s proposal to shift the Metro-3 car shed project back to Mumbai’s Aarey forest, a 1,800-acre area that is often termed as the city’s ‘green lung’. “This is about sustainable development and better planning. This is about Mumbai’s development and we staying here instead of being handed over a badly planned project that destroys our Mumbai’s Aarey Forest,” Thackeray tweeted.
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Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had shifted the car shed site from Aarey to Kanjurmarg due to concerns over the environmental impact of the project in the forests. The Eknath Shinde government revived the project, driven by Fadnavis, who headed the BJP-Shiv Sena regime from 2014-19 and had originally pushed the idea.
“This is a metro line that is in the interests of Mumbaikars... It will end the congestion and pollution in Mumbai. Opposing it is like opposing the environment. Some environmentalists may be doing this as they do not have genuine information and there is a chance that some others may have launched a sponsored protest after donning the guise of environmentalists. ,” said Fadnavis.
