Mumbai: The city is a step closer to rehabilitating the inhabitants of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The Mumbai Housing and Area Development Board (MHADB) on Monday invited bids for construction of 2,000 houses for tribals and 24,959 houses for non-tribals, who are living inside the park, on two plots in Maroshi. The project is estimated to cost around ₹3,500 crore and the developer will get the transfer of development rights (TDR) in lieu of the construction.
The SGNP has 43 hamlets (padas) with 1,795 tribals and around 25,000 encroachers, occupying around 300 acres. “We have handed over the land to the MHADA. Once people are relocated, we will undertake demolition. We are hoping to free our land in two years. The process has been going on for 19 years,” Anwar Ahmed, Chief Conservator of Forests and Director of SGNP, said.
The 2,000 tribal units will be constructed on 43 acres as ground plus one structures complete with a terrace and courtyard. The 24,959 units will come up on 47 acres for eligible slum dwellers. Each house will be of a size of 300 sq ft. Work will be allotted in 2019 and it will take two years for the houses to be built.
Milind Mhaiskar, CEO, MHADA, said, “The MHADA is looking at the SGNP core area encroachers. The developer will have to construct houses and will get full construction TDR in lieu, similar to an SRA scheme. Since land is given by the SGNP, that cost will be saved. Around ₹3,500 crore is the scale of the project but the MHADA does not have to pay the builder... TDR is the only way this can be done. Our role will be complete once tenements are handed over.”
But activist Godfrey Pimenta is sceptical. “By a 2016 notification, the MoEF had imposed restrictions around the SGNP as an eco-sensitive zone. The State was supposed to create a zonal master plan for restoration of denuded areas, conservation of water bodies, management of catchment areas, watershed management, and groundwater management, but it has not done anything,” he said.
“Besides, moving one lakh people will put tremendous pressure on the area’s ecology. That is why I think rehabilitation should not happen here,” he said. The developer will also be responsible for the maintenance up to four years after occupation certificate is awarded.
The Hindu had reported in May that the park authorities wanted additional areas abutting Aarey Colony for rehabilitation of tribals and encroachers. The national park and Aarey Colony have had inhabitants for decades who are dependent on the forest for livelihood.
In the late 1990s, the Bombay Environment Action Group had moved the High Court against encroachments within the park and the court had directed the SGNP management in 2003 to rehabilitate all legal inhabitants out of the park and demolish encroachments. The order was supposed to be implemented within 18 months.
Therefore, the State government handed over 190 acres of land inside Aarey Colony to the SGNP in 2013 for rehabilitation of tribals and creation of an international zoo (apart from the Metro car shed). While the land has been in the SGNP’s possession since then, it could not undertake rehabilitation there as the 66 acres marked for it are falling short of requirement.
The SGNP management wrote to the secretary, revenue and forests of Maharashtra, in March and reservation was changed accordingly. The SGNP management then handed over the land to the MHADA for rehabilitation.
