HC seeks MMRDA, Maha govt's response on PIL against Thane-Mumbai metro

The Bombay High Court directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Maharashtra government on Friday to file their affidavits in response to a plea against the metro project that will connect the city to Thane.

A division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a group called Thane Nagrik Pratishthan challenging the permissions granted for the project.

The petition claimed that the Metro Line 4, which will link Wadala in central Mumbai to neighbouring Thane, was riddled with non-application of mind by the authorities and defective planning.

"The authorities have failed to consider the project's detrimental impact on the city, its people and safety of the environment," the plea said, adding that the project did not have requisite environmental clearance.

The PIL challenges two notifications issued by the state government.

The first, issued in June last year, made the MMRDA the planning authority for all metro projects and stated that it did not need to take permission for any activity pertaining to the metro project.

The second notification was issued in June this year, by which MMRDA decided to construct the Line 4 as an elevated rather than an underground one.

The bench directed the MMRDA and state to file their affidavits within six weeks.