Government plan to rehabilitate 30,000 tribals in Borivli national park faces stiff resistance.
Authorities of the Borivli’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) have submitted a proposal to the forest secretary sketching a plan for rehabilitating the tribals from the forest to a village on the borderline of the park. But the tribals, mainly farmers, are against the decision and have also planned a protest outside Mantralaya on July 22.
About five acres of the Chinchpada village, which lies on the Borivli and Kandivli border of the national park, has been proposed for the rehabilitation of 56 tribal villages. “Each farmer has about 3-4 acres where he lives and cultivates to earn a living.
And the authorities are planning to give merely five acres to a population of 30,000 tribals from these 56 villages,” said Vitthal Lad from Jaag, an NGO working for tribals.
According to Lad, the authorities are also violating the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which clearly mentions that the tribals should be rehabilitated in their ancestral forest land and nowhere else. While the tribals are upset with the move, the forest authorities are adamant too.
“My only source of income comes from growing vegetables and selling them in the market. This is the job I know the best. If they shift us, our source of income will also go away,” said Tukaram Sade from a tribal village called Patyachapaani. Sade cultivates rice and also grows cucumber, pumpkin among many other vegetables.
According to Ramchandra Bhoir from Akrachibhati, “Even though we don’t have electricity and other resources in our houses, we have the land to farm and earn a living. The forest authorities will shift us in a matchbox size room and we will be left jobless.”
About 90% of the tribals earn a living through farming and selling wood. A few from the younger lot have started going out for other jobs in the city.
The tribal says that instead of implementing the Forest Act by making facilities like solar energy and water connections for them, the authorities want to throw them out. “There are other needs of the tribals like anganwadis for their children who are malnourished. Not a single anganwadi has come up so far despite the promises made two years ago when malnutrition surfaced in the tribal children,” added Lad.
The forest authorities on the other hand have a different story.
“The decision has been taken for their good. Instead of staying in the middle of the forest, they will be put close to the city where they will have more earning options,” said P N Munde, director of SGNP adding that the state government will take a final call.
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