Mumbai, Jul 21 (Mumbai Mirror): Rivals Congress and Shiv Sena came together on Thursday to put a fresh spanner in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s pet project — the Metro.

At a meeting of the BMC’s Improvement Committee, corporators belonging to the two parties shot down a proposal to hand over a 4,000-sq mt plot in Andheri to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) so that it can build an electric sub-station for Metro IIA line.

The plot, which is part of a 9,000-sq mt land belonging to the BMC, is originally reserved for a sewage treatment plant and the corporators don’t want it to be given away for any other project. MMRCL had applied to the BMC to take over the plot for a period of 30 years.

“The BMC has reserved the plot for a sewage treatment plant. How can Metro officials suddenly decide that BMC needs only half the area and they can take the remaining 4,000 sq mt? We can’t compromise with other amenities for Metro,” said Ashraf Aazmi, Congress corporator.

Senior Sena corporator Milind Vaidya added, “The Shiv Sena is not opposed to the Metro project, but our question is it is being constructed at what cost? In my ward, people are affected by noise pollution created by ongoing Metro work and the sewage network has been damaged. Mumbaikars can’t suffer for an infrastructure project that will come up in the future.”

The corporators, by rejecting the proposal, have created another hurdle for the ambitious Metro project after Shiv Sena’s firm opposition to construction of the Metro car shed at Aarey Colony that will necessitate felling of a huge number of trees. Mumbai Mirror has extensively reported how the Sena has been opposing the Metro car shed in Aarey colony in the line with green activists.

Yuva Sena leader Aditya Thackeray has been also vocal against the car shed.

Officials said that the BMC has already handed over 24 plots on a permanent basis and 17 plots on a temporary basis to MMRCL for the Metro III project.

The MMRCL now needs 12 additional plots for Metro IIA line that runs from Dahisar East to Andheri East. The 4,000-sq mt plot in Andheri is one of them. Recently, members of the Improvement Committee visited the plot.

However, the state government can bypass the BMC and still take over the piece of land through a Government Resolution.

The proposal for the remaining 11 plots, which have been sought by the MMRCL from BMC, was not discussed at the meeting pending site visits. Some of these plots are the playground of municipal school near Azad Maidan (254 sq mts), Desai Maidan, Mahim (2,862 sq mts) and the garden behind Siddhivinayak Temple (6,754 sq mts). Of the 11, seven are needed for the Metro project temporarily and four on a permanent basis.

Ashwini Bhide, managing director of MMRCL, was not available for comments.