Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday inaugurated the trial run of Metro line between Dahanukarwadi and Aarey stations. The corridor will be open for commercial run by October, an official release said.
During the inauguration of the trial run program of Mumbai Metro line, a protest was staged under the leadership of Mumbai BJP in-charge MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar with black flags in protest of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. BJP workers also chanted slogans against the Mahavikas Aghadi government by displaying placards outside the Akurli metro station, saying that the Metro work, which was in progress during the BJP government, was first hampered, then the project cost was increased and now millions of rupees have been spent on advertisement for credit. Police arrested BJP workers including MLA Bhatkhalkar.
"The cost of the project has gone up by Rs 8,000 crore due to the decision of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to shift the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg. During the tenure of former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Thackeray government, with the help of the central government, put a brake on the fast-moving metro project.
Now, the Thackeray government is planning to inaugurate the trial run by advertising lakhs of rupees to steal the credit from Fadnavis's project, "Bhatkhalkar said.
"The Thackeray government has decided to relocate the Metro Card Depot at Aarey, but it has not yet decided where to build the new Metro car shed," he said. Had there been a depot in Aarey, the Colaba-Seepz metro would have been ready today. But only because of the stubbornness of the Thackeray government the project has reached till trial run stage, he said.