Where’s the connection? Work hasn’t started to connect Metro 3 tracks to elevated Metro 6

Work has not yet started to connect the Metro 3 tracks from Aarey Milk Colony to the elevated Metro 6, leaving environmentalists worried

The government has made it clear that the car depot of Metro line 3 will be shifted out of Aarey Milk Colony, and connected to the elevated Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli Metro 6. But environmentalists are not happy with the fact that work has not yet started to connect the Metro 3 tracks to the elevated Metro 6.

Green activist Zoru Bhathena visited Aarey where the work of the ramp for the metro was to begin. According to Bhathena, “I visited the Aarey ramp site on Tuesday and observed that no work was going on at the depot plot. If the elevated track connector is not built, how will the Metro 3 exit Aarey?”

The activist also said that this is a matter of much concern as it cannot take seven months to start this simple work. He also said that the ramp, bringing the underground Metro 3 to ground level, is ready.

Other fears

City-based green activists and nature lovers who have supported the Save Aarey cause, have also been demanding that the 808 acres of land that the government had declared as forest, be handed over to the forest department at the earliest. It has also been reported in newspapers that there is a dispute over setting up a car depot in Kanjurmarg, and nature lovers fear that this could bring the depot back to Aarey.

‘Need action’

Environmentalist Stalin D, member of the Aarey Conservation Group said, “People have been led to believe that the litigation on the Kanjurmarg plot is causing the delay in moving the Metro 3 car shed out of Aarey. This doesn’t seem to be right since Metro 6 work has proceeded at a rapid pace all the way to Kanjurmarg despite the litigation. It has been almost two years since the  MVA government came to power. No work has happened towards the proposed merger of Metro 3 and Metro 6 lines outside Aarey, nor do we have any knowledge about the drawing of the proposed design. We hope that work will start soon and Mumbai gets all its Metro lines operational using the composite Metro Yard at Kanjurmarg. While we continue to trust the word of our Chief Minister, we urge him and the state government to show some action on the ground to expedite the merger.” MMRC officials were unavailable for comment.

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