Four different metro depots will cause loss of Rs 10k cr to Maharashtra: Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray taking a dig at Shinde govt  said Maharashtra will lose Rs 10,000 crore if an integrated carshed is not constructed in Kanjurmarg for four metro rail lines. Addressing a news conference, Thackeray said the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government stands vindicated over its decision to construct a metro rail carshed in Kanjurmarg instead of Aarey, a green lung of the metropolis.

We had been insisting that an integrated carshed should come up in Kanjurmarg instead of Aarey for Metro line 3, 6, 4 and 14. Of these four lines, two are for Mumbai and two for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,” he said.This would have saved the state exchequer Rs 10,000 crore as having separate carsheds will incur more cost,” Thackeray claimed. The four lines which Aaditya was referring to are metro 3 (Colaba to Seepz in Andheri), metro 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar in Andheri to Vikhroli), metro 4 (Wadala to Kasaravadavali in Thane) and metro 14 (Kanjurmarg to Ambernath-Badlapur).

“When the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government shifted metro 3 car shed from Aarey Milk Colony to Kanjur in Kanjurmarg, the opposition BJP criticised the decision. Then Thackeray proposed an integrated car shed at Kanjur for four metro lines to save ₹10,000 core which could have come from taxpayers. However, the Central government claimed that it owned the land, and took the matter to the Bombay high court. It was a systematic attempt to scuttle the project,” Aaditya said.

After toppling the MVA government, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is constructing a car shed at the same location, he said. The 14.477-km elevated metro 6 line will pass over Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road and the Powai lake with 13 stations. Stepping up the attack, Aadtiya claimed that the government is now planning to construct two different car sheds for metro 4 and 14 in Thane to receive kickbacks from contractors. “Even now the state can build an integrated car shed for three lines - metro 4, 6 and 14 - at Kanjurmarg. This will save taxpayers’ money.”Refuting the allegations, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said Aaditya needed to get his facts straight.