Supreme Court seeks state’s reply on metro depot

Mumbai: The Supreme Court (SC) Monday denied four weeks’ time demanded by the state government to study alternative sites for the Metro 3 car shed currently planned at Aarey. The SC instead granted the state government only one week to file a reply. Tree activists in the city had challenged the Bombay high court (HC) order in the SC that Aarey was not a forest.

Activists in the city filed a petition in the HC in 2017 that 33 hectares of Aarey forest land should not be used for the Metro 3 car shed to maintain the ecological balance, and alternative sites should be used.

Stalin D, director of the NGO, Vanshakti, said, “The BMC has freed so many open spaces for development, then why can’t the Metro 3 car shed go there. The MMRCL replied in the SC that the car shed was planned at Aarey only, and cannot be moved as shifting will be expensive. The government by hook or by crook wants to build the car shed at Aarey for revenue purposes by selling TDR. But this cannot be done at the cost of the environment.”

The BMC in 2017 in its development plan 2014-34 changed the Aarey land from a ‘no development zone’ to reserved for the metro considering as a special case. For the depot, 33 hectares of land will be used, affecting over 2,700 trees at Aarey. This angered the activists who demanded that the metro depot be shifted to Kanjurmarg which was earlier considered for the depot. However, the government did not budge from its stance and the activists moved the court.

“The MMRCL said in the SC that shifting much of the construction for the car shed from Aarey is difficult. However, carrying out any work there is illegal when the tree authority and central ground water resources authority has not granted permission. The government’s lies will be exposed in court next week,” said Mr Stalin.

The tree activists are hopeful that they will save the city’s green lungs.