Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a PIL against the construction of a Metro railway car shed on Aarey land, saying the petitioners had failed to prove their contention that this was a forest area.

The division bench of Justices S.C. Dharmadhikari and P.D. Naik observed that there was no illegality in the government’s decision to grant permission for the construction of the car shed on a 165-hectare plot.

Activist Amrita Bhattacharjee and others had alleged that the Maharashtra government had changed the classification of the land, which was part of a forest. But Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) and the state government denied this and said the land was not officially recorded as part of any forest.

The court ruled that there was evidence to prove that the land was part of Aarey Milk Colony and not Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The 165-hectare plot notified for the car shed was not part of the 1,287 hectares of the colony’s land marked as a sensitive zone in 2016, it said.

“The documents from the state and the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) could not provide any evidence that the 165-hectare land is forest land,” the bench observed.

The high court made it clear, however, that no commercial activity will be allowed on the plot. The MMRCL would have to engage professional agencies for re-plantation and would also have to get an annual ecological audit done by an independent agency and share the report on its website for five years.

The court said that no land beyond the specified 165 hectares should be used for the proposed construction and that no damage should be done to underground water.

“The conditions safeguard the environment and ecology… If any condition is violated, then the state government and the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) shall not be prohibited from exercising statutory powers under MRTP Act and MMC Act. They can refuse permission if any violation is observed or refuse permission to use the construction as car shed,” the bench directed.