Aarey or Kanjurmarg? New panel to decide on car shed

MUMBAI: After two committees presented divergent views over the apt plot for the Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) car shed, the third panel, appointed on Wednesday by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, will take the final call on the Aarey and Kanjurmarg plots.

A senior official from the state government said, “The earlier reports didn’t consider if the Aarey plot would prove to be insufficient in the coming years. Thus, the [new] committee has been asked to study Aarey and also look at Kanjurmarg’s feasibility as an integrated car shed for Metro-3, 4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavali) and 6 (Swami Samath Nagar to Vikhroli), which was also not considered before.”

While the state had also said that it is looking at a plot in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), the terms of reference for this panel does not mention that plot.

The two committees appointed earlier had studied nine plots before presenting their recommendations.

In 2015, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had appointed a committee under the then metropolitan commissioner UPS Madan.

The panel had recommended building an integrated car shed for Metro-3 and 6 at Kanjurmarg.

The committee had stated that the Kanjurmarg option becomes “preferential” when seen together with line 6.

“Both the lines, when developed as one system, can share the same depot facilities at Kanjurmarg and operationally complement each other,” the 2015 report stated.

In 2019, after staying the work at Aarey, Thackeray appointed a committee under additional chief secretary (finance) Manoj Saunik. It stated Aarey would be the most viable option. The panel said shifting the car shed to Kanjurmarg would have “huge technical, operational, financial repercussions”.

...The [new] committee has been asked to study Aarey and also look at Kanjurmarg’s feasibility as an integrated car shed for Metro-3, 4 and 6 SENIOR OFFICIAL