THE ambitious Inter-Modal Station (IMS) project in Ajni for which scores of trees were to be felled or relocated from what is known as ‘Ajni Vann’, is likely to be shelved. According to sources, the contractor company and executing agency both are not willing to go ahead with the work citing delay due to a variety of reasons and more importantly the sustained campaign by environmental activists. Sources revealed that Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, also expressed the likelihood of shelving of the project or shifting of the IMS project outside the city limits. The contractor company expressed its unwillingness to go ahead with the project work due to delay, mainly due to ‘Save Ajni Vann’ campaign by environmentalists. The company conveyed this to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). According to sources, NHAI conveyed this to Gadkari. In fact, Gadkari is likely to speak to Railway Minister in this regards soon. The IMS project is likely to be shelved or shifted to Khapri or Gumgaon or such location outside the city limits. As per the plan, the IMS was proposed to be constructed at Ajni.

 

It involved acquisition of 44.4 acres of Indian Railways land available adjacent to railway tracks, for handling capacity of over 3 lakh passengers per day. The project proposed to have a facility of bus stand, Railway station, and a Metro Rail station in the vicinity. It was designed as the proposers felt that Nagpur Central Railway Station was heavily congested and had limited scope of expansion. Further, they felt that there were no organised bus terminuses for intra-city and inter-city buses. The proposed IMS would save 16,31,737 litres of fuel and prevent 75,65,196 kgs of Carbon Dioxide emissions over a period up to year 2050, they had claimed. The said project was among 15 such projects across the country. It involved an amount of Rs 1,250 crore and entailed construction in 1.70 lakh sq mtr.

 

The project had various components including seven railway platforms, three subways, three foot-over bridges, parking space for 1,000 cars, cloak rooms, widening of roads to and fro Medical Square, reconstruction of railway’s old building at Ajni etc. However, it attracted opposition from environmental activists as, according to them, about 7,000 trees were proposed to be felled. Countering them, NHAI had claimed that as per Detailed Project Study ‘approximately only 1,940 trees’ were proposed to be felled and that maximum number of these trees would be ‘replanted or transplanted’ as per the advice of Forest Department and forest experts. Further, NHAI had claimed that it would carry out compensatory afforestation of 25,000 trees on available vacant spaces on along National Highway projects land in and around Nagpur. The environmentalists raised questions over survival of transplanted or relocated trees. The matter also went to the court. The High Court had asked the designated Tree Authority to consider the entire issue including jurisdiction of either entertaining or referring the issue to State Tree Authority. Also, it had asked the Tree Authority to decide the objections raised by people. Last month, the High Court granted six weeks to Maharashtra Government on constitution of Tree Authority as per the new law.