'Metro phase-3 affected to be rehabilitated in the same area'

Maharashtra Government today assured the state Assembly that residents of the 28 buildings in Kalbadevi and Girgaum in south Mumbai, to be demolished to make way for the phase 3 of Metro, will be rehabilitated in the same area.
"The Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro 3 route will be underground. However, some buildings will be affected to make way for movement of machinery," Minister of State for Urban Development Ranjit Patil said, replying to a calling attention notice by the Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Congress).
This phase of metro is expected to start operating from 2020, the minister said.
The area has a sizable Maharashtrian population, and political parties, including the ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena, have opposed demolition of the buildings.

The minister assured that Marathi-speakers would not be displaced due to the project.
The residents of Girgaum and Thakurdwar have planned a day-long bandh on March 18 to protest the imminent eviction.