india

Updated: Nov 29, 2019 19:10 IST

Three hours into his new office, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday halted the work of the Metro 3 car shed at the Aarey milk colony.

“I have stayed the work at the Aarey car shed. The work will not happen without a thorough review,” Chief Minister Thackeray announced at a media briefing at the end of the day.

The Shiv Sena, which was part of the Devendra Fadnavis government before the state elections, had criticised the cutting of trees at Aarey Milk Colony.

Uddhav Thackeray and son Aaditya had also spoken out against the cutting of trees after a row three months ago when thousands of trees were felled for its construction at Mumbai’s Aarey Milk Colony. His party promised to declare Aarey as a forest if it comes to power.

“I will not tolerate killing of trees in the dead of the night. Not one leaf will be plucked from the tree. I will do whatever is necessary to stop that,” Uddhav Thackeray said but insisted that he had not stayed any development work.

“The construction of the Metro line will continue uninterrupted,” he said.

In its common minimum programme (CMP) released, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi - the coalition that Thackeray leads - had promised to look at the possibility of moving out the proposed metro rail car shed.