Plan scrapped after Ajni Forest protests, Greens lament
An official press release issued on Friday regarding a meeting chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has come as a major blow to the green crusaders.
NAGPUR: Calling it very old wine in a new bottle, environmentalists have criticized the revised project at Ajni, saying government documents prove that dismantling the original Inter Modal Station (IMS) was just a pretext.
An official press release issued on Friday regarding a meeting chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has come as a major blow to the green crusaders.
The document also revealed that apart from the multi-modal transport hub, the projects include shopping malls, commercial complexes, business zones, and five-star hotels. Railways is all set to come up on the land of Central Jail, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Irrigation Colony, and Government Medical College.
Environmentalists have vehemently rejected the proposal alleging that the project is just a new avatar with the same environmental damage. “If not, the loss will be more as five-star hotels and malls are added to the project. From day one we had evidence that the government was planning a multi-stage commercial project under the guise of IMS, but none of the authorities acknowledged it. This is the first time he himself has produced evidence for this.” They said.
Government is only fooling the public and the law
As TOI had reported earlier, Nitin Gadkari announced the scrapping of the IMS project last year after a huge uproar from environmentalists. He said, ‘The government is only fooling the public and the law. What was removed when almost everything in the original plan remains in the new one? Seeing the Ajni Van Bachao protest gaining momentum, political leaders tried to pacify the protest by making misleading announcements of scrapping the project.” Jihadis said.
They also fear that the revised project could only lead to further loss of green cover. “Shopping malls, five-star hotels, and other planned structures will require vast acres of land. All these proposed sites have a large green cover, which will be sacrificed. Get ready to lose thousands of old trees once again,” the workers said.
Also Read: 4-year-old girl takes stand, attacker gets 20 years in jail
