07 February,2022 04:44 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
This picture has been used for representational purpose
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said it vehemently opposes the construction of a Regional Transport Office (RTO) shed in the Aarey forest in Mumbai, for which a tender notice has been issued by the Maharashtra Public Works Department.
Preeti Sharma Menon, national executive member and Mumbai in charge of AAP, urged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to withdraw the RTO shed tender, failing which her party would start an agitation.
Aarey forest, which is the shared natural heritage of 1.5 crore Mumbaikars, is also the largest catchment area for ground water percolation in the metropolis, besides being a hotspot teeming with biodiversity and Schedule 2 species as defined in the Wildlife Act.
"The Office of Executive Engineer, P.W.D. Special Projects division, Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra has invited tenders through Notice No. 22 for 2021-22, for an RTO shed to be constructed in Aarey.
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"Aarey is a designated forest, an environmentally sensitive zone and a green buffer zone. The above-mentioned construction activity is simply impermissible given the sensitive ecology of the area," the party said in a statement.
It said Mumbai has ample land and the encroachment of forest land will not be allowed.
Aarey, one of the major green lungs of the city, was earlier at the centre of protests by environmentalists and activists as well as common citizens opposing the construction of a metro rail carshed there.
The carshed project was scrapped after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by the Shiv Sena assumed power in the state.
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