Protests by activists broke out in 2019 after the then state government decided to build a Metro car shed at Aarey Colony

Mumbai: Less than 24 hours after assuming charge as the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde reversed the Uddhav Thackeray government’s stand on the construction of the Metro car shed at Aarey Colony. While Uddhav Thackeray had paid heed to environmental concerns, the Shinde government said the Metro project will go ahead in accordance with the 2019 plan made by the Devendra Fadnavis government.
Protests by activists broke out in 2019 after the then state government decided to build a Metro car shed at Aarey Colony and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) gave a green signal to it. Although Fadnavis had tried to reason out by saying that the reason they want the car shed to be built is because Metro reduces the carbon footprint and that the project is not an environmental concern, he had to coy before the protests.
Later, when Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister, he stalled the project at Aarey Colony and shifted it to Kanjurmarg. However, the Centre moved the Bombay High Court and claimed that the land belongs to it. Ever since, the Metro car shed project has been stalled.
Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis were sworn-in as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, of Maharashtra on Thursday at the Raj Bhawan, days after Shinde left the state along with a few MLAs and rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray.
After heightened political drama in Maharashtra for over a week, Wednesday things settled after the Supreme Court turned down a Shiv Sena plea to stop a floor test ordered by the Governor and subsequently, Uddhav Thackeray quit as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Thackeray announced his decision through Facebook live and in some time, reached the Governor’s house and submitted his resignation.