On Friday, December 11, the Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court that the salt commissionerate under the central government neither has title nor possession of the Kanjurmarg land allotted for the Metro car shed, whereas the state owns the same.
Representing the state government, Advocate General (AG) Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, made submissions before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni, which was reacting to the Centre’s writ plea, filed through its deputy salt commissioner, challenging a November 2018 order of the revenue minister declaring that while the state was the owner of various salt pans in Mumbai, some were privately owned.
The government led by CM Uddhav Thackeray had earlier decided to shift the metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg in order to protect the greenery at the Aarey forests which led to the BJP leaders slamming the state government. However, despite the criticism, the site was handed over to MMRDA and permission was granted to build a car shed for both Metro 3 and Metro 6 routes.
The dispute regarding the Metro car shed has been ongoing for a while now. According to environmental activists, Aarey is a forest area and any construction work would hamper the ecological balance. On the other hand, the Devendra Fadnavis regime last year highlighted that the long-term gains of the project would offshoot the temporary damage caused due to the axing of trees.
On the other hand, in a letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) claimed that the land allocated for the car shed in Kanjurmarg belongs to the Union government. The DPIIT, further requested Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar to restrain the MMRDA from developing the car shed at the Kanjurmarg plot.