Mumbai: Mankhurd residents protested the metro car depot at Mandale, with slum dwellers demanding jobs from the authority. There are around 532 hutments that will be affected due to the car depot.
The protest was led by Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale. The agitation was supported by slum dwellers staying close to the land. The depot will cater to metro 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), metro 2B (D.N. Nagar to Mandale) and metro 7 (Andheri east to Dahisar east).
In a letter sent by Mr Shewale to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), he stressed that the youth from the slums on Mandale land be given government employment by the authority and all slum dwellers be rehabilitated.
A senior MMRDA official said, “Not all can be rehabilitated; we have identified 532 hutments, of which, 21 are commercial. The eligible persons will be relocated at Vashi Naka where we already have vacant tenements.”
According to reports, around 60 per cent of the depot land will be on double decks in order to accommodate the coaches of all three lines at both levels. Car depots are meant for parking and maintaining the metro rakes.
