Even though the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government pledged to move the Metro-3 car shed out of Aarey Colony in Mumbai soon after coming to power in November 2019, work on a connecting ramp at Aarey’s Prajapurpada village has continued in full swing over the past year and a half, to the dismay of environmentalists.

The ramp is a key piece of Metro-3’s infrastructure, and will allow trains exiting the underground SEEPZ metro station to enter the car shed for maintenance.

Just two days after the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government vacated the previous regime’s stay on construction of the depot in Aarey, locals are seeing a flurry of activity at the ramp site, which includes felling of a large number of trees.

Sanjay Karhade, spokesperson for Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL), said they would share updates at a press conference next week. However, a senior official in MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) - which is a 50:50 partner in MMRCL along with the Central government – said the Metro-3 ramp work is “essentially complete”. He added that there was never any stay on MMRCL constructing the ramp in Aarey; Only the depot plot was protected.

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