Mumbai: While the debate over the hacking of 84 trees at the Metro depot side inside the Aarey Milk Colony continues, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has completed 55% of construction work of the Aarey car depot. The car depot is being established to serve Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro Line 3, which is an underground corridor covering a 33.5-km-long route.
“Work is going on at a rapid pace inside the car depot location. Simultaneously, we are also conducting rolling stock trials, track laying, construction, removal of barricades, restoring and resurfacing of roads, etc,” said an MMRC official.
MMRC managing director Ashwini Bhide tweeted, “Work on the maintenance workshop and overhead catenary system building, station, stabling line, utility, delivery track, blanketing, track laying, mechanical, electrical and plumbing works are being carried out and 55% work done so far.”
Overall, the entire project is about 79% complete. Officials have set a December 2023 deadline to ply services between Sariput Nagar and Bandra Kurla Complex. The remaining alignment up to south Mumbai is expected to be ready by July 2024. The work being carried out isn't affected by the 84 trees for which permission to hack them is required from the Tree Authority.
In November, the SC permitted the MMRC to secure clearance from the Tree Authority on removing 84 trees from the project site. According to MMRC officials, this application has been pending with the authority since 2019. On the other hand, the environmentalists claim that they are disappointed with the ruling.
In October 2019, the MMRC axed 2,141 trees at the car depot site to make room for the mass rapid transit project. In July 2022, after a fresh round of protests against the government's decision to proceed with the Aarey site for the car depot, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a comment that no more trees needed to be cut at the site.
