Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray hits the streets to save Aarey

Former minister Aaditya Thackeray speaks to activists gathered at Picnic Point to protest the government’s move to bring back the Metro-3 car shed to Aarey Colony, on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Protesters continued their demonstration against the government's decision to construct the car depot for Metro line 3 at Aarey Milk Colony on Sunday. Shiv Sena leader and former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray too participated in Sunday's protest.

The decision taken by the new Eknath Shinde-BJP government to bring back the car shed to Aarey Milk Colony is facing criticism from nature loving citizens and a section of environmentalists. On the other hand, there is a section of infrastructure lovers who are of the opinion that the car depot should come up in Aarey so that the line 3 is operational as early as possible.

Also read: Mumbai: Potholed roads add to Aarey residents' woes

A number of people gathered at Picnic Point in Aarey Milk Colony and staged a peaceful protest which also saw the participation of Aaditya Thackeray along with Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, MLA Ravindra Waikar, MLA Sunil Prabhu and other leaders and party workers.

Thackeray said, "The MVA government was pro-Mumbai and pro-Maharashtra. The issue is not just about trees but about the rich biodiversity of Aarey Milk Colony which needs to be protected. I just want to tell the new government to not take out their anger against us on Mumbai. It's really unfortunate that the first decision they took was against the city. Having one car depot for metro lines 3, 6, 4, 14 at Kanjurmarg would not just have been a good thing but it would have saved approximately Rs 10,000 crore."

He also said that the structures that were constructed at the metro site in Aarey were proposed to be converted into a veterinarian hospital.
It may be noted that the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government had decided to shift the car shed out of Aarey Milk Colony, but the new government reversed the decision. Shiv Sena chief and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has criticised the present government for its decision to bring back the depot to Aarey.

Rs 10k cr
Amount that could have been saved with the car shed at Kanjurmarg, as per Aaditya Thackeray