Mumbai: For the last 44 years, Hariprasad Gadwa has been staying in Laugad, atop the hills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). A temporary worker, he built his hut on the park lining Kandivli. His house stands lonely atop the hill. “All other houses around my hut have been demolished by the forest department, after they received alternative sites at Chandivli. But, I have not received an alternative house for this slum of mine and hence have refused to vacate,” says Mr. Gadwa.
There is no electricity, and water has to be fetched from the community tap downhill. Gadwa is among the 51,000 people who are awaiting alternative houses from the State. There were about 64,000 people identified as long-term residents inside the park, who were to be rehabilitated outside. After much fight put up by the residents, about 13,000 people have been provided with alternative houses at Chandivli and their houses have been demolished in phase 1 of the process. However, phase II of the project, in which about 13,000 more were to be shifted, is stuck. “We are still in talks with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority and various agencies, and are awaiting allotment of houses,” says Anwar Ahmed, director and chief conservator of forests, SGNP.
Till the houses become available, the slums inside the park cannot be removed. This is not counting the tribal residents of the 43 adivasi padas, who legally stay inside the park. Forest officials say human settlements right inside a forest is not conducive for both humans and animals. The park, which boasts of a rich biodiversity with over 1,500 species of plants, 280 species of birds, over 60 kinds of reptiles and 35 leopards, are found across the park.
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“A wildlife habitat should be sacrosanct; any kind of interference is not conducive for both. Also, humans bring with them problems like fire, garbage, felling of trees. People living inside a wildlife habitat are disturbing for both of them. Hence, ideally even the tribals staying inside the 43 adivasi padas should eventually be moved out,” he says.
The 103 sqkm-wide SGNP is one of the three wildlife parks in the world, which exists right inside the precincts of a buzzing metropolis. However, SGNP is unique for being surrounded by a high density of population — an average of 20,925 people per sq km in the immediate periphery and being surrounded by localities like Thane, Mulund and Borivli.
“Since the legal residents (who are to be rehabilitated) stay in a mixed locality right in between the illegal residents, it becomes difficult to carry out demolitions; though we do continue to carry out demolition drives to remove the illegal slums,” says Mr. Ahmed.
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“The government has failed to allot houses to these people even though there are more than a lakh houses ready and lying vacant in Mumbai. This is even as people in the park continue to fight for basic amenities like water, electricity,” says Vidya Chavan of Ghar Hakk Jagriti Charitable Trust, and a member of the Legislative Council, who took up the cause of the residents. “The government has shifted out people by claiming they are harming the environment. But, these people were shifted to buildings that came up after cutting the hills of Powai, thus harming the environment even further. What kind of rehabilitation is this?”
M.K. Rao, additional principal conservator of forests (wildlife, western region), identified encroachments and resulting man-animal conflicts as the major concerns facing SGNP. SGNP has been able to complete building only 60% of its boundary walls due to litigations and court cases. “SGNP failed to even demarcate its boundaries, forget building its boundary wall though ₹nine crore earmarked for it,” says Ms. Chavan.
Nikit Surve, a researcher with Wildlife Conservation Society, Bangalore, who has been working with SGNP, says, “The Adivasis staying in the hamlets inside SGNP belong to warlis, thakurs and kolis, who have been co-existing with animals for ages. In fact,they worship a deity called waghoba; they don’t get scared of animals and instead understand and accept leopards as an integral part of nature. On the other hand, the urban people view leopard as a threat and get scared even on spotting one. They have never lived with animals and view even leopards as the forest department’s problem.”
Naturalist Dipti Humraskar, who is part of the Volunteers for SGNP, says, “Urban people get attracted to greenery near the park, but fail to see that if greenery is there than snakes and leopards are bound to be there. People have been living with leopards for a long time without any problem. It’s more of a human adjustment problem.”