Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has awarded the final works contract for a car shed depot at Aarey Colony despite concerns and opposition from environmentalists.
A total of 25 hectare of area at the Aarey colony will be used for the depot, which will be constructed at the cost of Rs 328 crore. Earlier the depot was to be constructed on a 30 hectare plot. The car depot at the Aaery colony, one of the few green patches in the city, would affect about 3,130 trees.
Citizens group and environmentalists have opposed the move to construct the car depot at Aarey Colony and had even moved to the National Green Tribunal against the government's decision. They feared any construction in the area could hamper the rich bio-diversity of the area.
But SK Gupta, director (projects), MMRC said that with the new design, they have managed to save some trees.
“With the new design, 5 ha would be untouched, which can save up to 1073 trees,” said SK Gupta, director (projects) and acting managing director, MMRC.
The contract to construct the car depot is given to a Delhi based construction company- Sam (India) Builtwell Pvt. Ltd, which has constructed such car depots for the Delhi and Lucknow metro. MMRC expects this work to be completed in two and a half years.
The depot will have the capacity to host 31 trains of 8 cars each and will be used to wash the bogies and other maintenance purposes. MMRC will install a rainwater harvesting system and solar panels on the rooftop of the depot.
Metro-3 is a 33.5-kilometre-long corridor, which will run from Coloba- Seepz once completed.
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