Aaditya opposes east-coast, salt-pan development, Metro car

Shiv Sena youth wing chief Aaditya Thackeray today met Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao here, seeking his intervention to stop the Centre from "monetising" the eastern coast of the city by selling off the land belonging to the Mumbai Port Trust to private developers.
"Mumbai's east coast is about 1800 acres of land. The Central government seeks to monetise the land for residential and commercial purposes. It is also heard that the Arabian Sea on the east coast will be declared a creek (to get around environmental rules)," Aaditya said in his letter submitted to the Governor.
"The land is three times the size of (defunct textile) mill lands, eight times the length of Marine Drive. It could be developed into a lush green open space with a promenade rather than allowing builders and land sharks to grab the land in the garb of housing," he added.

He sought the Governor's intervention to ensure that the land under the Port Trust is not grabbed by land sharks.
The current residents of the area need to be heard and the city's needs must be kept in view rather than handing over the land to builders, he said.
"Constructing on salt lands (salt pans) and east cost will only add to the woes of the city," he stated.

Aaditya further said that Aarey Colony forest in northern suburbs also faces threat due to the proposed Metro car-shed.
"Sadly the government report and the head of Metro project state that Aarey is not a forest, whereas currently the forest has a rich bio-diversity, including about 30 leopards," Aaditya said in his letter.

The car-shed location could have been easily shifted to a nearby private golf course, he said, requesting the Governor to intervene and prevent the city from getting "killed".