A fresh war of words broke out between the Opposition BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Friday over the latter’s proposal to shift the Mumbai Metro III car shed from Kanjurmarg to a location earmarked for the proposed Bullet terminus at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in north-central Mumbai.
The Shiv Sena, which heads the three-party government in Maharashtra, lent credence to the reports in a sections of the media that in the wake of the Bombay High Court’s stay on the Mumbai Metro-III car shed project at Kanjurmarg, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had asked the senior officials to explore if the car shed project could be re-located at BKC.
Shiv Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut ticked off the BJP – which in the wake of the high court’s ruling felt vindicated over its earlier stand on the Mumbai Metro-III car shed project – when he confirmed that the reports that the plot at BKC for re-locating the Mumbai Metro-II was being considered.
Talking to media persons here, Raut said: “(In the wake of the high court’s stay on the high court’s stay on the Mumbai Metro-III car shed project at Kanjurmarg), the Opposition need not get worried about the location of the car shed project. Today reports have been published that the state government is considering re-locating the car shed at BKC. Yes. We are examining that venue for re-location”.
Incidentally, the plot of land where the Uddhav Thackeray dispensation is considering to re-locate the Mumbai Metro-III car shed is a state-owned land unlike the Kanjurmarg land which is trapped in litigation.
Maharashtra’s Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde also confirmed that the state government was considering the BKC plot for relocating the car shed project. “We are studying the Bombay High Court order. At the sqme time,we have asked officials to the land at the BKC as an alternative for the car shed project”.
The BJP -- which had opposed the the Uddhav Thackeray dispensation’s decision to shift the car shed project from Aarey colony at Goregaon in north Mumbai to Kanjurmarg in north-east Mumbai – has not taken kindly to the Maharashtra government’s move to re-locate the project at BKC, as it feels that the car shed project would jeopardise the terminus location Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet Bullet Train project.
Former chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis hit back at the Shiv Sena-led MVA government describing the move as “ridiculous” since it would involve exorbitant costs. “Whoever is advising the state government is doing a bad job. The advisor is out to deplete the state exchequer. This is because the BKC plot is a price land. In all, the car shed project needs 25 hectare land. Going by the current land rates there, the land itself would cost as much as Rs 1000 crore”
“The bullet train terminus that is coming up there is going to be three levels under the ground. Above the ground, an international business centre is coming up. When it was decided to build the bullet train terminus, we realised it would cost Rs 5,000 to 6000 crore. If we decide to locate the metro car shed, which currently costs Rs 500 crore, it would cost Rs 5 to 6,000 crore if we decide to locate it underground. Plus, the annual maintenance cost would go up five to six folds. Hence it is not feasible to locate the metro car shed project at BKC,” Fadnavis said.
Another BJP leader Asish Shelar was equally critical of the Uddhav Thackeray government for its move to re-locate the project at BKC. “Just because the metro car shed project has run into rough weather because of the high court’s ruling, the MVA government is now spokes into the Bullet train project by choosing the same venue for metro car shed project.
The latest exchange of barbs between the Ma government and BJP comes in the wake of Wednesday’s order of the Bombay High Court’s further staying implementation of a Mumbai collector’s land allotment order dated October 1, transferring the Kanjurmarg land to the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the project. The high court has put a stop to all construction activities at the Kanjurmarg site. Though the Shiv Sena-led state government is also considering moving the Supreme Court against the high court’s order, it is now trying to arm twist the Centre into having its way.
It may be recalled that during the end of October this year, the BJP-led NDA government had opposed the re-location of the Mumbai Metro-III car shed project at Kanjurmarg in nortjh-east Mumbai.
Nearly three weeks after the Maharashtra scrapped the previous BJP-led government’s decision to locate Metro phase-III car shed at Aarey colony at Goregaon and moved the project to Kanjurmarg, the Centre’s Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) had shot off a letter to the state government opposing the location of car shed project at Kanjurmarg would be “against the interest of the Government of India''. The DPIIT also claimed ownership of the 102-acres land there.
Lodging a protest with the state government against the move to relocate the car shed project at Kanjurmarg, DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said: “The improper and unilateral action of the Mumbai Suburban District Collector and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has caused severe loss” to the DPIIT and the Government of India”.
The latest move by the Sena-led MVA government to relocate the Mumbai Metro III at BKC is being seen a tit-for-tat act against the Centre for its earlier opposition to the relocation of the car shed project at Kanjurmarg.