: Shinde-Fadnavis combine loses no time to dismantle MVA legacy #IndiaNEWS #National,Politics By Quaid NajmiMumbai, July 16 (IANS) Barely hours after they were sworn-in on June 30 evening, the new Chief

Shinde-Fadnavis combine loses no time to dismantle MVA legacy #IndiaNEWS #National ,Politics
By Quaid NajmiMumbai, July 16 (IANS) Barely hours after they were sworn-in on June 30 evening, the new Chief Minister Eknath S. Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis indicated that they meant business.
One of the first major decisions was to strike down the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) proposal to construct the Mumbai Metro 3 car-shed in Kanjurmarg, instead of the lush green Aarey Colony where it was originally planned by Fadnavis during his tenure as the CM (2014-2019).
The Shinde-Fadnavis move, though anticipated, attracted howls of protest from greens, activists and even former CM Uddhav Thackeray who was like a ‘godfather to Aarey Colony and his son ex-Minister Aditya Thackeray.
A sad Thackeray publicly appealed, with ‘folded hands to Shinde-Fadnavis, not to bring back the Metro car-shed to Aarey Colony forests in the interests of Mumbai and the citys environment, while Aditya urged the new regime not to vent their angst against the Thackerays on Mumbaikars.
Fadnavis responded with the right noises that he would ‘respect Thackerays sentiments before taking any final decision and days later, uprooted the Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide to reinstate her as the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MMRCL) Managing Director.
In October 2019, as the then MMRCL MD, Bhide often regarded as the ‘mother-in-law of Mother Nature, had shocked the nation when Aarey Colony overnight got a massive haircut 2,141 trees were chopped off in barely 40 hours, or @1 tree/minute…!
Thackeray Jr. , Congress workers, green groups and activists have been fuming and protesting at the new regimes latest reversal, but Bhide is entrusted with the task of pushing through the contentious proposal.
After the MVA allies, Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party, had scuttled the Centres plans to construct the terminus for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project in the Bandra Kurla Complex, the Shinde-Fadnavis ministry took a relook at the much delayed mega-project.
They have resolved to build the Bullet Train terminus at the original intended BKC site and ordered the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shut down and pack up its 2-year-old Covid Jumbo Field Hospital there within 2 months, by September.
In another jolt, the government has scrapped over 4,000 big and small water conservation projects in the state worth more than Rs 5,000 crore, designed to make the state ‘drought-free by 2025.
However, in contrast, the government has decided to ‘revive the Jalyukt Shivar Project, the pet scheme of Fadnavis when he was the CM, but which was struck down by the MVA.
The Thackeray regime had based its decision on an open enquiry into the project after the CAG expressed doubts about the JSTs effectiveness, and later a probe panel had submitted a report highlighting various irregularities in that scheme.