800 acres of Aarey Land in Mumbai Reserved as Forest

Reversing the earlier decision when the government had announced that 600 acres of land in the area would be declared a forest.  Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made an announced that around 800 acres of land in Mumbai’s Aarey has been declared a reserve forest and the construction of the controversial car shed for a Metrorail project in Aarey would be shifted to Kanjurmag. The proposal to build a metro rail car shed on 30 hectares of the Aarey Colony land had faced stiff opposition from concerned citizens, who wanted to protect Mumbai’s last green lung from concretisation. He further added that the building already constructed in Aarey would be used for some other public purpose. The uncertainty over the car shed is over now. Biodiversity in Aarey needs to be protected. There is an 800-acre jungle in an urban set-up. Thackeray added that his government will withdraw all cases against the activists who protested the felling of trees in the area. “There will be no infringement on the rights of tribals in Aarey area.