Few minutes after Chief Minister Uddav Thackeray defended the Kanjurmarg site for the Metro 3, 4 and 6 carshed, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis called upon his predecessor not to mislead Mumbaikars. "The Chief Minister's remark that additional land would have been required for the Metro carshed in the future if it is constructed in Aarey is misleading," Fadnavis stated.
He dismissed Thackeray's argument that relocating the Metro carshed project to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony would serve future needs, including the availability of land that might be needed for the expansion of the infrastructure for Metro lines.
“It seems that the CM has not read a report of a high-powered committee set up by his own government on the "financial implications" associated with relocating the project site,’’ taunted Fadnavis. “Our only request is to get rid of stubbornness and immediately pave way for a carshed at Aarey for the benefit of Mumbaikars,” he noted.
He asked Thackeray to make a report of the high-powered committee public, ‘as it mentions the financial losses the state will incur if the project is shifted to Kanjurmarg, besides delaying the project by four years’. Fadnavis was responding to Thackeray’s justification for shifting of the Metro 3 carshed to Kanjurmarg from Aarey.
"Why are you hiding the fact that the construction work at Aarey cannot be stopped even if the carshed is shifted to Kanjurmarg? The construction of the underground tunnels is being carried out keeping in mind the Aarey land. The work is 80 percent complete," Fadnavis said.
He reiterated that relocating the carshed project from Aarey will ‘result in waste of time and money’.
Fadnavis supported Thackeray’s call for cooperation in the resolution of dispute through a dialogue between the central and state government. He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) didn't believe in working for taking credit.
“The central government has an equal contribution with the state in the Metro projects. Japan International Cooperation Agency has financed the project with the help of the former. For the benefit of Mumbaikars, the central government has been cooperating with Maharashtra,” he viewed.
He, however, argued, “People of Mumbai have already suffered a lot. They shouldn’t be subjected to more trouble.”
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the dispute between the two governments on the Kanjurmarg land issue, which has been proposed for the Metro 3 carshed.
