On Monday, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) received the Aarey Colony land that was declared a forest last year. The SGNP director received a total of 712 acres from the newly appointed chief executive officer of Aarey Colony. The state government handed over 100 acres of land for a zoo in 2019. The Aarey forest now encompasses this area. A further 90 acres in the SGNP's possession is set aside for tribal and slum dweller relief and rehabilitation. The long-awaited handover is a significant victory for the city's citizen movement. The Save Aarey Movement, which began in 2015 as a protest against tree cutting for the Metro Line 3 car shed, resulted in the Maharashtra government formally declaring 800 acres of land as a forest. However, the metro car shed's relocation remains a source of uncertainty. The SGNP will now be in charge of the new forest land's conservation and protection. G Mallikarjun, director of SGNP, told the media that the state revenue and forest department has sanctioned the post of a forester and four forest guards for the additional forest area. While 800 acres were designated as forest last year, five acres were previously earmarked for a police station and will be returned to the dairy development department. The five acres will be returned to the government in due course before the final notification declaring the area a forest is issued. The government was eager to hand over the land to SGNP because frequent fires in Aarey were tarnishing the government's image. Amrita Bhattacharjee, a member of the Aarey Conservation Group, told the media that the handover was good news. The government must now remove the barricades surrounding the Metro car shed so that the public can see the work that has been done. Image Source Also read: Aarey Colony to be declared a slum rehabilitation area by Maharashtra Also read: DDA invites bids for slum rehab, commercial dev