MUMBAI METRO CORP WANTS DEPOT AT AAREY; CM WILL DECIDE

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has decided to revert to its original plan of building a metro depot at Aarey Colony. On Thursday, MMRC chief Ashwini Bhide said the corporation’s board had strongly recommended building the depot for Metro 3 on 24 hectares in the ecologically sensitive Aarey Colony as a plot at Kanjurmarg, considered the best alternative, was not available. Considering the opposition to the project by environmentalists, MMRC has decided to reduce the size of the depot. Now, CM Devendra Fadnavis will take a final call on the issue.

The Kanjurmarg plot was one of eight examined by an expert panel, appointed by Fadnavis, as possible alternatives to Aarey Colony following stiff opposition to building the depot there. However, the committee had allowed MMRC to revert to Aarey if the Kanjurmarg plot could not be acquired in three months.