The latest entrant in opposing the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ metro rail car depot at Aarey Milk Colony is Shiv Sena. Not only have they aired their opposition to the depot but also to the entire 32km-long project.

In the past one month, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too had extended their support to a group of citizens and environmentalists under the banner 'Save Aarey'.

Interestingly, Sena's opposition to metro rail is the latest issue in the list of their rift with ally BJP. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis heads the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), a subsidiary which is implementing the project.

Visiting the car depot site at Aarey Milk Colony on Friday, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray not only extended support to saving Aarey Milk Colony but also opposed the metro project.

In the past two months, Sena has been holding protests in the Girgaum area on rehabilitation issues and displacement of families residing in chawls and buildings.

"A car depot will have adverse impact on the overall biodiversity of Aarey Milk Colony. Nowhere else is any forest available within a metropolis," said Thackeray. Aarey Milk Colony and Sanjay Gandhi National Park are popularly known as 'green lungs' of the city due to their location in the centre of suburban Mumbai.

Sena now plans to meet the chief minister urging him to stop any activity at the car depot site.

Interacting with the media, Aaditya said that the Thackeray family is for environment and wildlife. He even asked politicians across party lines to come forward to support the cause.

The other ground of opposing the project is coastal road, as according to him, if a coastal road is planned connecting south Mumbai with the western suburbs, this metro rail project should be scrapped. The project will also take away some portions of Oval Maidan, Azad Maidan and other open spaces of Mumbai during construction stage.

Along with Thackeray were minister of state for housing Ravindra Waikar and MLA Sunil Prabhu. When the Yuva Sena chief was questioned on why it is opposing the car depot proposal despite being in the ruling alliance, he replied, "If something is wrong, we have the right to oppose it."

Meanwhile, MMRC managing director Ashwini Bhide on Friday carried out sapling plantation at the Aarey Milk Colony car depot site.