Mumbai, Oct 11 (IANS): Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that the proposed new car-shed for the Mumbai Metro will be shifted to a new location to save the forests in the Aarey Colony area.

"We have decided to construct the car-shed on government land at Kanjurmarg, entailing no additional financial burden on the exchequer. The expenditure done on a building at Aarey Colony will also not go waste as it will be deployed for appropriate use," Thackeray said in an address to the state.

The CM also announced that an additional 200 acres of land will be reserved as forest in the Aarey Colony, in addition to the 600 acres declared last month.

"The orders to the effect were issued last night and will take the new forest area to 800 acres that will be a boon to the city's environment," said Thackeray as thrilled environmentalists and green activists all over the state lauded the move.

With this, the forest cover of Mumbai will go up from the existing 103 sq km to 106 sq km, mostly within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali and its green surroundings.