Metro Car Shed To Be Relocated To Kanjurmarg; Cases Against Protesters Withdrawn: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

The Chief Minister also directed the withdrawal of all police cases filed against Aarey protesters who tried to stop the authorities from cutting down the trees.

Photo: PTI

Amid the major uproar by citizens and environmentalists against the Aarey project, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that the metro car shed project will be shifted from Aarey Colony to Kanjurmarg in Mumbai. Addressing the state through a webcast earlier today, the Chief Minister said that the government has decided to shift the project to a government land in Kanjurmarg. Thackeray said no cost will be incurred for the purpose and the land will be available at zero rate. "We have allotted government land for the car shed for Rs 0. We won’t spend a single rupee for acquiring this land," CM Uddhav Thackeray said in the webcast.

The Chief Minister also directed the withdrawal of all police cases filed against Aarey protesters who tried to stop the authorities from cutting down the trees. Activists have been campaigning against the proposed cutting of 2,700 trees of Aarey forest to accommodate a Metro car shed project, the sprawling green belt of Mumbai. Hundreds of people gathered to protest in Aarey colony in suburban Mumbai after they were informed that trees were being axed by authorities in October 2019. As many as 29 people were arrested and section 144 was imposed by Mumbai Police to disperse the protesters. The incident had stirred a political drama in the state. Shiv Sena leader had then said that he will deal with the "murderers of Aarey forest in the best possible way" after forming the government again in Maharashtra. The then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the government is bound to cut trees in Mumbai's Aarey forest as "development is important". "We do not wish to cut even a single tree in Aarey, but the development is also important. We will plant more trees in place of those cut. I will personally speak to Aditya Thackeray about this," he said.