Hours after being sworn in alongside rebel MLA-turned-Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reversed the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s decision to halt the construction of a metro rail project in Aarey Colony in Mumbai, a move that could potentially trigger backlash.

According to news agency ANI, Fadnavis took the decision in his first cabinet meeting as Deputy CM, and the Maharashtra government’s stance on the controversial construction project is expected to be produced before the Bombay High Court.

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What is the Aarey Colony metro shed controversy?

The conflict between the Maharashtra government and environmental activists dates back to 2019 when Fadnavis was CM.

Back then, he had announced the construction of the metro rail shed at Aarey Colony, a 1,287 hectare green area that is home to 27 Adivasi villages and various animal species, where 2,700 trees would have to be cut to accommodate the shed.

The move had been contested by environmental activists, who approached the Bombay HC.

In September 2019, the Bombay HC verbally directed the state government and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) to not cut any trees, to which they agreed.

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Subsequently, in October 2019, the Bombay HC dismissed all petitions against the felling of trees, within hours of which MMRCL started cutting trees.

The move sparked massive protests, and after the MVA government came to power in November 2019, then-CM Uddhav Thackeray stayed the order for the project and declared a large swathe of the Aarey Colony a reserve forest.

In 2020, the project was then shifted to Kanjur Marg by the MVA government.

Then, on June 6 this year, the Centre asserted that it had ownership of the proposed construction site in Kanjur Marg and told the Bombay HC that a decree in the name of a private firm with respect to the land was obtained fraudulently. The Centre demanded that said decree be considered null and void.

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Then, on June 15, the Bombay HC set aside the 2020 decree which granted a private entity the ownership of a 6,000-acre plot in Kanjur Marg, where the shed was slated to be constructed under the erstwhile MVA government.

Since then, the Maharashtra government, Centre, Mumbai civic body BMC and several other government and private entities have claimed ownership of parts of the land.

What happens now?

If the project is moved back to Aarey Colony, there’s a likelihood of protests being staged again.

At the moment, however, it is unclear how the project will proceed.