CM Uddhav Thackeray announced a stay for Metro construction in Aarey Colony area.

On November 29, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared a hold to the construction of the metro shed in the city’s green lung Aarey Colony, where a large number of people had protested against the cutting-down of trees for the development.

However, he explained that the work of the Mumbai metro project was not stopped by him itself. On Thursday Thackeray, who heads a coalition of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, was sworn in.

BJP-led Maharashtra government was shot in October by environmental activists when over 2,000 trees were felled for a car shed to be constructed at the Aarey Colony adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

The Shiv Sena, then junior partner in the government of Devendra Fadnavis, opposed the felling of trees. I’m going to review the whole thing. I am not going to let the culture where trees are cut at night, Thackeray said to the journalist. “Till further orders, not a single tree leaf is to be cut,” he added. Last month a Supreme Court bench demanded a status report containing photos of plantation, transplantation and felling of trees in Aarey colony area.

The Bombay High Court declined on 4 October to declare Aarey Colony a forest and refused to quash the decision of the municipal corporation of Mumbai to allow felling of over 2,600 trees in the green zone to set up a metro car shed. The tree was cut at night, fueling outrage; hours after the court gave a lead.

Thackeray during an interaction with the media in the Press Room of the State Secretariat also said that he had become Chief Minister unexpectedly, but did not wish to avoid responsibility.

During the poll campaign, he took a dig at his predecessor, Fadnavis, over the refrain “I will come again (as chief minister)” of the latter, saying, “I have not announced that I will be chief minister.”

The president of Shiv Sena, who was accompanied by his son and MLA Aaditya, has also noted that he was Maharashtra’s first chief minister who was born in Mumbai and has added that he is working on plans to improve the region. The chief minister stated that his government will be responsible for every paisa of taxpayers.

He says he’ll do “everything to meet people and solve their problems.”