Mumbai : Environmentalists and the government continue to tussle over housing the car depot at Aarey Colony for the Metro-III project. At the hearing of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Pune on Tuesday, the Ministry of Environment and Forests were given two weeks to file their reply on whether Aarey Colony is a forest or an eco-sensitive zone.
On December 11, the NGT issued a bailable warrant against the regional secretary, MoEF, Bhopal, for his failure to appear before the NGT’s Pune bench in the Aarey Colony matter. NGOs Vanashakti and the Aarey Conservation Group had filed a plea before the NGT, seeking the declaration of Aarey as an eco-sensitive zone after Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation sought approval to set up the depot of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro project at Aarey.
Stalin D, who was present at the hearing, said, “The Ministry of Environment and Forests finally appeared because a warrant was issued against them. They wanted two weeks’ time to reply and so the bench has given them that time. The MoEF is an integral part of this issue, and it has to decide whether Aarey is a forest or an eco-sensitive zone.” The MoEF has to file its reply before January 8.
