A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis batted for a metro rail car shed in the metropolis' Aarey area, principal ally Shiv Sena's chief Uddhav Thackeray has warned the plan could end up like the aborted Nanar refinery in the Konkan region, reported PTI.
Uddhav’s assertion has the potential to further widen the chasm between the two saffron parties which are hassling over the number of seats to contest the Assembly elections, due next month.
The car shed plan for Metro 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) line is in the midst of an acrimonious debate as the work will see the felling of over 2,600 trees in the Aarey area, considered among the city's prime green lungs.
According to PTI, responding to a question on the car shed, Thackeray said,
“It will meet the fate of the Nanar oil refinery.”
Incidentally, Thackeray's son and Yuva Sena head Aaditya Thackeray has been vocal in his opposition to the metro plan.
A proposed Rs 3 lakh crore refinery in Nanar in the state's Ratnagiri district had to be scrapped after the Sena put up a stiff resistance.
In March this year, the state government scrapped a notification issued in May 2017 to acquire 5,932 hectares of land across 14 villages in Ratnagiri district and two villages in Sindhudurg district for the refinery.
Aarey Doesn’t Come Under Forest Land: CM
On Sunday, Fadnavis said the Supreme Court had clarified that the (Aarey) land did not come under forest or bio-diversity.
“So the state government, by adhering to orders passed by the apex court, is working on the (metro car shed) project.”Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Questioning the motive of the objections the project has been facing from various environmentalists and activist, the chief minister while addressing a press conference in Pune pointed out of the 13,000 complaints received, 10,000 were from a Bangalore-based website. He also said he will talk to Aditya Thackeray regarding the issue.
(With inputs from PTI)
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