Aarey Conservation Group (ACG) on Friday made a serious allegation that the site of the Metro 3 carshed in Aarey Colony was always a forest. The group has said that there has been a land scam of Rs 60,000 crores in connection with carshed and the documents proving it will be brought out soon.
Aarey Colony settlement was a part of Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) till 2016. Where building permission was prohibited. For the benefit of builders, the Aarey Conservation Group claimed almost 250 acres more land than required for the Metro project at both Aarey and Kanjurmarg. Also, this group has said that the proposed land at Kanjurmarg was owned by the Maharashtra government.
"Until 2015, the forest department had said that the entire Aarey area should be included in the ESZ of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. But in early 2016, then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered the denotification of part of the Aarey for the Metro," environmental activist Zoru Bhathena told The Times of India. Following the instructions of the Chief Minister, nearly 408 acres of land in Aarey was given for Metro.
ACG has alleged that the reason for not using the 102-acre Kanjurmarg plot for the metro shed is to give it to the builder. About 250 acres of land between Kanjurmarg and Aarey can be used for commercial development worth at least Rs 60,000 crore. But considering the available FSI, plot area and current ready reckoner rates, the plot concerned could reach up to Rs 1 lakh crore, activist D Stalin said.
Stalin said that the existing carshed premises in Aarey will have to be further expanded to accommodate more railway coaches in future. A committee appointed by the state government headed by then Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar had said that the depot would be capable of storing only 248 coaches, which was insufficient. The actual requirement is 440 coaches.
On the issue of trees, the ACG said the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation hid the actual number of trees at the Aarey site, later admitting that there were more than 3,330 trees. After the public agitation, the design of the Metro car shed had to be revised. An area of 13 acres was laid out in the center of the depot plot and reserved as green cover.
The 102 acre plot lying at Kanjurmarg is owned by the State Government and is free from claims. Not only that but it is not under the CRZ. The concerned plot is part of a larger plot of 1,650 acres. Zoru Bhathena said there were no documents, land records or evidence to show that the plot of the proposed Kanjurmarg depot belonged to the salt department.
About 500 acres of the 1,650 acres were leased for salt production to the Garodis, who later sold the development rights to Shapoorji Pallonji Construction Firm in 2009. But since this land is trapped in CRZ norms and the only non-CRZ plot available for the depot, the state wrote to the Salt Pan Department (Centre) requesting to hand over the plot to the state.