Mumbai
Despite litigation and opposition from the green brigade, a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday by MMRC to discuss details of construction at Aarey Milk Colony.
Updated : Jan 24, 2017, 07:50 AM IST
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has floated bids for the construction of a car depot for the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro at Aarey Milk Colony, much to the dismay of environmentalists.
Despite litigation and opposition from the green brigade, a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday by MMRC to discuss details of construction at Aarey Milk Colony.
As per the bid details, a construction company will be appointed to erect depot-cum-workshop buildings, the Aarey metro station building, a subway, earthworks, and all associated works.
At the moment, a final order is awaited from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). A petition has been moved with NGT against the car depot plans of Metro 3. The petition is to "save" part of the green lungs of Mumbai. Meanwhile, there is a stay order to stop any activity or construction at Aarey Milk Colony.
"There is no stay order to set up a casting yard next to Aarey Milk Colony, though there is a stay order for the car depot. The stay order is to avoid any construction activity, not to disallow us from conducting a bidding process or inviting tenders," said an MMRC official.
On December 5, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in a notification had allowed construction of the metro car depot at Aarey Milk Colony. However, NGT's final order is awaited on the issue. A total of 33 hectares is needed by MMRC to construct the car depot.