They cancelled the Aarey Metro project. They denied Mumbaikars of the metro. They stalled infrastructure projects key to Mumbai’s development. They are now criticising Maharashtra CM over the clearances given to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. Who are they? No, they are not some ecofascist environmentalist groups. They are members of the MVA alliance. Yes, MVA is antidevelopment.
NCB calls out Shinde over bullet train project
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday informed that Shinde had given all the clearances to take the bullet train project further. Mind you, it is the same project that the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress, had scrapped.
NCP’s chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “The illegal government of Eknath Shinde has expeditiously given clearances to the bullet train project”.
“Shinde should focus more on issues concerning the state and Thane district to resolve the urban problems it faces, instead of bowing before neighbouring Gujarat,” Tapase alleged.
How the MVA government stalled PM Modi’s bullet train project
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project was a pet project of PM Narendra Modi himself while the Aarey Metro Car Shed project was connected to former CM Fadnavis.
PM Modi has been working day and night, putting his heart and soul to modernize India. After the Bullet train in Gujarat, he wanted to have a bullet train in the state of Maharashtra as well for which FDI has been acquired from Japan.
The desperation of the state government to oppose his dream can be seen as a mighty political party that led to the delayed bureaucratic clearances and land acquisition for the project.
“The project deadline got pushed back at least three years from 2023 to the end of 2026 due to the attitude of the Uddhav Thackeray government since 2019. So much so that the Prime Minister had last instructed that the high-speed corridor be operationalised in Gujarat first, without waiting for Maharashtra. Now, we hope work will get fast-tracked on the entire stretch,” a senior government official said recently.
However, the newly formed government is leaving no stone unturned to bring the country’s first and only high-speed rail project back on track in Maharashtra.
The estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is Rs 1,10,000 crore. Out of the amount, 88,000 crores are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Over 70 per cent of the land required for the project has been acquired in Thane and Palghar districts.
MVA did not want to approve metro projects
As the BJP-Eknath Shinde alliance stormed to power in Maharashtra on June 30, the Aarey project was back on track. In its first decision, the new government made it clear that the Metro-3 car shed will be built in Mumbai’s Aarey colony itself.
Read more: How Uddhav Thackeray denied Mumbaikars of metro
In 2019, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis had said that the government is bound to cut trees in Mumbai’s Aarey forest area as “development is important”. But, the MVA government came into power and remained adamant about building it on a financially un-viable alternate route.
In the name of saving trees, they aimed to halt a metro rail project which is the need of the hour in Mumbai. A massive misinformation campaign, on the construction of a metro car depot in the Aarey colony of Mumbai, gripped social media. Involved in this campaign were several hypocritical Bollywood celebrities, politicians and so-called intellectuals.
It is evident that the former MVA government was against the development of Maharashtra and now, with their criticism against the bullet train project has proven that the MVA government is anti-development.
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