Betray me but don't betray Mumbai: Uddhav on Aarey row

Mumbai, July 01: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on slammed the Eknath Shinde government after it reversed the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi regime's decision to shift the Metro 3 car shed out of the Aarey colony.

During his address at the Sena Bhawan in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena chief said "I am saddened by the new Maharashtra government's move to relocate metro car shed to Aarey Colony. It is my request, do not make car shed at Aarey, it will disturb environment."

"If you're angry with me, do not take anger out on the city," Uddhav Thackeray said while referring to the Aarey Colony move by new CM Eknath Shinde.

In their first cabinet meeting held hours after coming to power, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis took the first step towards overturning the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government's decision of relocating the proposed Mumbai Metro Line-3 car shed from Aarey Colony.

Incidentally, Shinde's predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, immediately after becoming the chief minister in November 2019, had announced a stay on the construction of the proposed Metro-3 car shed in Aarey Colony.

The decision to set up the car shed in the wooded Aarey area had faced opposition from environmental groups as it entailed cutting down hundreds of trees. The Thackeray government had later shifted the site to Kanjurmarg, but it is embroiled in a legal dispute.