In the wake of the Bombay High Court’s stay on the Kanjurmarg Metro car shed, as the Centre and the state government are locked in a tussle over ownership of the land, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he is open to the resolution of the land issue through dialogue.
“We have all documents to prove that the land belongs to the state government. If there is a controversy over the ownership of land, the issue can be resolved through dialogue,” Thackeray said. Should the land be allowed to go because of ownership issues and should it be given to builders? he asked.
The state BJP leaders have now demanded that the MVA government share the blueprint for the metro car shed. The party has also demanded that the Manoj Saunik committee report on an alternative to Aarey Colony be made public.
Atul Bhatkalkar, BJP MLA said, “We demand the government share plans on the new location and the blueprint for the metro car shed with elected representatives and the public.”
Referring to the criticism from BJP leaders, he said, “The issue on Kanjurmarg land is not about my ego and it shouldn’t be about yours too.”
The Bombay HC on Wednesday stayed the order passed by Mumbai suburban district collector allotting 102 acres of salt pan land in Kanjurmarg area here for the construction of an integrated metro car shed.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni also restrained the authorities from carrying out any construction work at the said land.
Thackeray also said, “Aarey car shed spread over 30 hectares was just for Metro line 3, while the 40-hectare Kanjurmarg land would be used for a car shed for Metro lines 3, 4 and 6.”
“It will also be a junction for Metro line 14, which will go up to Ambernath and Badlapur”, Thackeray said justifying the choice of land at Kanjurmarg for the Metro car shed.
He said the “costliest” land in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) here was given for the central government’s bullet train project, despite opposition.
“We did not create an obstruction. If you create problems in Kanjurmarg and we do in the BKC, creating problems in each other’s projects will serve no purpose,” he said. There should not be haste in development, he said.
Development should be long-lasting, the CM said, adding the Kanjurmarg project will be useful for the next 50 to 100 years and useful for future generations.
