Eknath Shinde, the new Maharashtra Chief Minister, has moved to reverse the Uddhav Thackeray government's stance on the contentious Metro car shed project in Mumbai, according to sources, NDTV reported.
Shinde has instructed Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to submit in court that the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro car shed will be constructed at Aarey Colony as scheduled in 2019 under the Devendra Fadnavis administration.
The controversy began in 2019 when the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for permission to cut down trees at Aarey Colony, thus sparking a wave of massive protests led by environmental activists in Mumbai.
The case is currently before the court, and the next hearing will take place within 15 days, according to officials in the urban development department. Fadnavis informed the officials that the court case is causing a delay in the 33-kilometer Colaba-Bandra-Seepz underground metro project.
Meanwhile, the NCP opposed the new government's plan to move the Metro car shed to Aarey Colony.
“With so many important issues that need to be looked into in Maharashtra, what does the new Dy. CM Devendra Fadnavis do? He proposes to move Metro car shed back to Aarey. Re-creating a problem solved by MVA Govt. Green lung of Mumbai in danger once again," NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto tweeted.
A day after Thackeray's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government fell, Shinde was sworn in as the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, and Fadnavis took the oath for the post of deputy chief minister.