Days after the newly formed Maharashtra government directed the Advocate General that the metro car shed be built in Mumbai's Aarey colony itself, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's son and MNS president Amit Thackeray slammed the Shinde-Fadnavis camp for the decision and said that he was shocked by the decision.
"The new decision by the new government is shocking for me and innumerable environment activists and lovers. The youth of the state had earlier struggled hard against the move. Some were even put in jail," said Thackeray in a social media post.
He also highlighted that development is the need of the hour but not at the cost of the environment.
"We definitely need development but not at the cost of the environment. If our environment is completely destroyed then there will be no one left for politics or to be ruled upon. The politicians should take a note of this," he added.
He also requested the state government to reconsider its decision.
In September 2019, then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the government is bound to cut trees in Mumbai's Aarey forest area as "development is important".
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation announced its plan to cut down over 2,700 trees from the Aarey colony in order to build a car shed for the Metro. The colony, spread over 13,000 hectares, is home to over 27 Adivasi villages and inhabits various animal species.
The Bombay High Court in September 2019, verbally directed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) and the state government not to cut any trees in the Aarey forest area for the construction of a metro car shed, to which they agreed.
Later in October 2019, the Bombay High Court had dismissed all petitions against the proposed cutting down of over 2,500 trees in Aarey Colony of Mumbai to make way for a Metro car shed.
However, the Maharashtra government had stayed the order for the Aarey metro car shed project following massive public agitation in the city.
In 2020, the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the state government had withdrawn cases registered against people who were protesting against the proposed metro car shed in Aarey. He had said the proposed car shed has been shifted from Aarey to Kanjur Marg.
( With inputs from ANI )
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