Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that no ongoing infrastructure project was stopped in the state and only the construction of the metro car shed in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony was halted, PTI reported. The announcement came days after he passed an order to stop work in the construction of the metro car shed project.
“Since the state government is reviewing the situation, no decision has been taken regarding the bullet train project as well,” he said after a review meeting of such projects. “The only stay order issued is for construction of car shed on Aarey land in Mumbai for Metro-3 line.”
The chief minister said his administration will not create hurdles in any of the infrastructure projects, adding that there was a need to sort them out on the basis of available funds and ascertain their benefits for the public. Thackeray said a review of such initiatives would help his government expedite them.
Thackeray was shown presentations of the projects, including the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, and the Mumbai metro.
On Sunday night, the chief minister had declared that his administration will withdraw cases registered against activists who tried to stop the felling of trees in Aarey Colony. In October, 38 people were booked in connection with the protests against the authorities’ move to cut trees, even as the Bombay High Court dismissed a series of petitions to stop the work and give it the status of a forest. Of the protestors, 29 were arrested but later granted conditional bail.
The metro car shed project has been marred by controversy. There have been several protests against the civic body’s decision to cut the trees on 30 hectares of Aarey land to build the metro car depot. While the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited – the agency implementing the metro project – claimed it would compensate by planting thrice as many saplings elsewhere, protestors demanded that the car shed be shifted to an alternative site.
Also read:
1. From Parsis to Adivasis, Mumbai’s metro project faces heat from citizens
2. Saving Aarey: Why a city with a weak protest culture is demonstrating to protect Mumbai’s green lung
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