.jpg)
According to sources, Eknath Shinde has tried to change the position of the Uddhav Thackeray administration on the contentious Metro car shed project in Mumbai just hours after taking office as chief minister of Maharashtra.
According to reports, Mr. Shinde has instructed Attorney General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to argue in court that the Devendra Fadnavis administration will proceed with plans to construct the Metro vehicle shed at Aarey Colony in 2019.
The controversy began in 2019 when the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for permission to cut down trees at Aarey Colony, an urban forest that many regard to as Mumbai's "green lung." This provoked a wave of protests by environmental activists in Mumbai.
As a result of activist protests, the new government chose to relocate the Metro car shed to Kanjurmarg. In 2020, the BJP-led federal government asserted that the land belonged to the Salt department in a petition to the Bombay High Court. A stay was then issued by the High Court. The project has been in limbo ever since.
Even while they were the BJP's allies, the Shiv Sena has been opposed to the idea to construct the shed in Aarey. Last year, Chief Minister Thackeray stated infrastructure projects carried out in a hurry can result in waste and not real growth in response to the BJP's criticism of the project's relocation.
"Decision by Shinde Fadnavis Government to Reopen MetroCar Shed at Aarey would Restart Mumbai Metro Work," he tweeted.