Metro car shed at Kanjurmarg: Maharashtra govt issues notification to reserve 43.76-hectare land
Photo: BL Soni
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday issued a notification to reserve 43.76-hectare land at Kanjurmarg for metro car depot, car shed and other allied uses under Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act.
In the notification, the government said that the land reserved for Garden/Park, Affordable Housing, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Homeless Shelter, Police Station, Police Staff Quarters, Municipal School, Electricity Transmission and Distribution facility, and wide Development Plan Roads of Village Kanjur having area admeasuring approximately 43.76 hectares are deleted and the land so deleted is entirely reserved for Metro Car Depot, Casting yard and other Metro uses .
File photo
MUMBAI: An integrated Metro depot at Kanjurmarg will save the government Rs 1,580 crore against land and construction costs, says the committee appointed by the state last month to look into the Metro 3 car shed issue. The panel’s report, accessed by TOI, holds that while the Aarey plot can accommodate only 30 rakes, the Kanjurmarg one is large enough to hold 55.
Buttressing its point, the nine-member panel, headed by chief secretary Sanjay Kumar, says that the 41-hectare Kanjurmarg plot is big enough to be an integrated depot for three Metro lines: 3, 4 and 6. The 20-page report mentions that “if the integrated depot is planned at Kanjurmarg, an interchange station of Line 14 and Line 6 can be proposed at Kanjurmarg, facilitating better interchange between Lines 3, 6 and 14.”
Rohit Pawar on a visit to Goregaon’s Aarey Colony.
MUMBAi: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s grand nephew and MLA Rohit Pawar on Thursday said that the Centre must not politicise the Metro 3 car shed issue. Instead it must help in constructing the car shed in Kanjurmarg and support the Maharashtra government to save the Aarey forest for future generations.
Rohit was on a visit to Goregaon’s Aarey Colony on Thursday morning where he interacted with locals, green activists and officials.
This was Rohit’s first visit to the Aarey Colony site where the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) has hacked close to 3,000 trees in October 2019 despite massive protests from citizens groups, NGOs and environmental activists. Rohit also said that the police cases against the Save Aarey protestors would be taken back.
Leader of the Opposition says it is impractical to merge Metro 2 and 3 lines
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday appealed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to relocate the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro 3 car shed to Aarey colony from Kanjurmarg.
In a letter addressed to Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Fadnavis said some officials were “misguiding” the government. He said going ahead with the Kanjurmarg plot would invite allegations that the Chief Minister is working in favour of certain builders.
“If the car shed is shifted to Kanjurmarg, it will end up cutting more number of trees. The project will be delayed and crores of rupees will be wasted,” he claimed. The BJP leader said it is also a “lie” that the Aarey car shed land is available only till 2031. While planning for the car shed, planners have estimated the population growth till 2053, he said.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday appealed to CM Uddhav Thackeray to relocate the proposed Metro car shed back to Aarey Colony as decided by the previous government.