Stay on Metro carshed work "illegal & illogical": Somaiya

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Thursday termed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerays decision to suspend construction of Metro carshed at Aarey Colony here as "illegal and illogical".

The former Lok Sabha MP said this has virtually put the entire Metro project in a jeopardy.

A day after taking charge late last month, Thackeray announced a stay on construction of Metro carshed in the city's green lung Aarey Colony, where protests were held against cutting of trees for the project.

Thackeray had said not a single tree leaf will be cut till further orders.

Speaking to reporters, Somaiya said, "The suspension order of Metro carshed is an illegal and illogical act of the new government of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi.

"If there is no alternative site for the carshed, it means the entire Metro project is in a jeopardy. I think the state government has not studied the project entirely," the BJP leader said.

"It is a Rs 23,000-crore project and a delay would escalate its cost. Who should be held responsible for such a situation?" he asked.

In October, the Supreme Court had sought a status report with pictures on plantation, transplantation and felling of trees in Aarey Colony in suburban Goregaon.

The Bombay High Court had on October 4 refused to declare Aarey Colony a forest and declined to quash the Mumbai municipal corporation's decision to allow felling of over 2,600 trees in the green zone to set up the carshed which is part of the Metro-3 line.