Metro car shed in Aarey threatens wide range of animals, warn activists

While the Maharashtra government is moving forward with the Mumbai Metro-3 car shed project in Aarey Colony, a forest area in the city, environmentalists warn that not only leopards, but a host of other animals and birds face the threat of losing their habitat and lives.

Apart from leopards, a wide range of species of flora and fauna is found in the Aarey forest, an 1,800 acre area termed as the city’s ‘green lung’, located in suburban Goregaon and adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

This rich urban forest is a biotope that houses some newly-discovered species of scorpions and spiders, besides being a treasure trove of birds, butterflies, amphibians and mammals.