Metro carshed case hearing in Bombay High Court on April 17

The petitioners, along with the notification of August 24, 2017, are also challenging the notification of November 9, 2017, in which the state has sanctioned the Development Plan (DP)-2034 for the Aarey Depot.

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Bombay High Court. (Express Archive)

The Bombay High Court on Monday said it will start on April 17 the final hearing on the PIL raising objections to setting up the Metro carshed at Aarey. The petition, filed by Amrita Bhattacharjee and Biju Augustine, as part of the Save Aarey initiative, challenges the notification of August 24, 2017 that was issued by the Maharashtra government through the Urban Development Department, modifying the sanctioned revised development plan for Aarey by deleting 33 hectares of land from no development zone to reserving it for a Metro car depot/workshop, allied users.

The petitioners, along with the notification of August 24, 2017, are also challenging the notification of November 9, 2017, in which the state has sanctioned the Development Plan (DP)-2034 for the Aarey Depot.

Meanwhile, the state submitted an affidavit before the court denying the allegations made by the petitioners stating that the state government is delaying the hearing of the petition pertaining to the Kanjurmarg land dispute.

The petition also states that in October 2015 the state government’s technical committee was formed to look into the ecological destruction of Aarey.

The technical committee consisted of the Municipal Commissioner, head of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), head of the Urban Development Department, experts from Delhi Metro and two environment experts. The committee suggested that the Metro car depot be shifted to Kanjurmarg in order to save Aarey. The committee suggested a time frame within which the state government should hand over the Kanjurmarg plot to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

The petitioners also alleged that the state deliberately failed to move the application before the court and then use the delay to move the car depot back to Aarey. The state government in its reply said the allegations by the petitioners were patently incorrect.

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