MUMBAI: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in an address on Sunday, stood his ground on the decision to relocate the metro car shed to Kanjurmarg and said the move was in the long-term interest of the city and its people. He also struck a conciliatory note by saying he was willing to give the Centre “credit” if it helped to take the project forward.
Acknowledging the dispute over ownership of the land, he invoked the PM’s description of his own office as that of a “Pradhan Sevak” and said the issue must be resolved through dialogue between Centre and state without making it “a prestige issue”. His statement was echoed by NCP’s Nawab Malik, who said his party chief Sharad Pawar was ready to mediate on the issue and if needed, meet the PM to settle it. P 4
Metro shed will need more land later, Aarey will lose further: CM
Responding to allegations that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s insistence on Kanjurmarg for the Metro car depot rather than Aarey was driven by his own ‘ego’, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said, “Yes, I am egotistical when it is about the interest of the people and the state.”
Stressing on the longterm benefits of green cover for the city, he said, “the Kanjurmarg land is barren whereas Aarey is a jungle. If we require more land in future for the car shed, then we will end up destroying the jungle,” said the CM.
His point was later underscored by an official at the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) who pointed out that the debate was being framed entirely on the basis of present requirements. As of now, a 25-hectare depot at Aarey would accommodate 39 rakes of 8 cars each (312 coaches – 30 trains in stabling lines, 4 in the inspection bay, 3 in the workshop, 1 in the automatic washing plant, 1 in the heavy wash plant) as against the ultimate requirement for 55 rakes (440 cars).
The MMRCL source pointed out that, “As per traffic projections, there is a requirement of 42 trains by 2031. So the depot’s capacity at Aarey would have got exhausted by 2031 itself.” Future expansion would thus lead to more erosion in green cover at Aarey, is the view being touted by the state.
“It is unfortunate the Centre has approached court for the Kanjurmarg land,” said Thackeray. He acknowledged that there are issues related to ownership, but stressed that it ought to be resolved through talks. “We are ready to give credit to the Centre for the project if they come forward,” he said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi called himself a ‘Pradhan Sevak’. So, we should not make it a prestige issue and if we behave in such a manner we are not fit to occupy the chair,” the CM added.
He said the state has given BKC land worth several thousand crores to the Centre for the Bullet Train project without a fuss, “then why is there a tug-of-war over the Kanjurmarg land?”
He said the car shed site in the Aarey forest was meant only for Metro III, while his government had planned a shed at Kanjurmarg for three Metro lines including III (Colaba-Seepz), IV (Wadala-Kasarvadavali) and VI (Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Kanjurmarg) and a junction point for Metro 14 (Badlapur-Kanjurmarg).
Last week, in a major setback to the state government, the Bombay high court had granted an interim stay on the suburban collector’s order allotting 102 acres of saltpan land at Kanjurmarg to build the Metro car shed. The Centre and the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra have been locked in a tussle over the land’s ownership for months now.
(Inputs from Manthan K Mehta)