‘They want to push us out’: Over 1,000 tribals march to Raj Bhavan over forest rights

Traffic on the Western Express Highway in Borivli East is impacted as members of the tribal community participate in a march to Raj Bhavan on Friday. PICS/SATEJ SHINDE

Traffic movement on the Western Express Highway (WEH) was slower on Friday as over 1000 protesters began marching to Raj Bhavan, demanding the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA).

"Traffic movement on WEH has been affected since 10 am. There hasn't been complete disruption, but it is moving slower than usual. The police and traffic police are managing the situation on the ground," a senior traffic official told mid-day on Friday afternoon. As per the official, the situation was the same at 3.30 pm and "will improve once the march concludes".

The protesters, mostly members of the tribal community, began the protest outside the main gate of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on the WEH in Borivli East around 10 am.

According to the march's coordinators, protesters remained at the spot until around 1.30 pm, claiming police were trying to restrict them to the spot. However, the morcha began proceeding towards Raj Bhavan.

By 2.40 pm, the protesters had reached Kandivli's Thakur village, and by around 4.30 pm, they were in the check naka in Goregaon East, where they halted for the day. "We will continue the morcha tomorrow if we don't receive a positive response from the government," said a coordinator.

Key demands

The protesters said implementing the laws would protect their rights and enable tribal communities to continue residing on their generations-old forest land, resuming their traditional role in conserving and regenerating forests and ecologically sensitive areas, including Aarey and Yeoor. On April 15 this year, over 2400 tribals from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) participated in a maha gram sabha at Chinchpada, SGNP, in a united stand against the Zonal Master Plan - which tribals said termed them as ‘encroachers' - and to demand basic civic facilities.

Voices of protest

Vikas Baraf, tribal resident from Yeoor
‘This march is in continuation of our fight against displacement of tribal homes by the government. You can't snatch the forest away from the tribals; it is our home. We have coexisted here for generations; tribals are actually the ones who have protected these areas from capitalistic development'

Vijay Matera, tribal leader from Wagle Estate
‘We have held gram sabhas where our demand letters were signed and submitted to the authorities, but we have gotten no response. Thus we decided to take our morcha to Raj Bhavan. Over 1000 people have come together for the protest, and more will come. We won't go anywhere till we receive the government's response.'

Prakash Bhoir, tribal leader from Aarey
‘They want to push us out of our own forest. Our forest rights claims have been pending despite submitting all documents, while many tribal hamlets still lack basic amenities. Instead of protecting our rights, authorities are trying to relocate us. We want our rights to be recognised and our demands heard'