Adivasi bodies demand that authorities recognise traditional land ownership; SGNP deputy director says they can apply for legal permit to avoid moving out
A tribal association meeting held on July 31. PIC/MADHULIKA RAM KAVATTUR
Multiple tribal associations, including the Adivasi Hakk Samvardhan Samiti, Shramik Mukti Sangh, and the Van Hakk Samiti, held a meeting on Thursday demanding to cancel all eviction notices sent to the Adivasi settlements in Goregaon’s Aarey Milk Colony after tribal hamlets recently received multiple notices from the forest department stating that they have encroached on forest land, which the tribals have called home for generations, and cultivated illegally. The notices have come after 812 acres of the colony have been declared as forest land.
Dinesh Habale, president of Van Hakk Samiti, said, “The notices state that the residents who planted trees or are cultivating in the area have done so illegally. Why is this not said when people from outside Aarey come for plantation drives and all?” “The authorities either want us to move or put us under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), neither of which we want or deserve.”
A tribal hamlet in forested Aarey Milk Colony. FILE PIC
Residents are also now in constant fear of their lives being uprooted. “If not in Aarey, where do we stay and cultivate? We consider this forest our mother and God, and the authorities now expect us to get up and leave just because they have decided that we are encroaching on their land, where we have been living all our lives. This is unfair,” said Pramila Bhoir, who has already faced the constant pressure of notices and authorities.
The residents also say that those who have constantly lived in the Aarey would not be able to get jobs easily in the city. “There are around 27 hamlets in Aarey, having a population of 10,000; how do we all move into the city for work? Who will give us jobs, and how will we earn? The authorities have completely forgotten how tough it would be for us,” said Bhoir.
According to the notices, the forest department has set the deadline of August 5 for the tribals to vacate the cultivation land or submit proof that they are not illegally occupying the land. One of the notices sent to the resident reads, “You are directed to be present for the hearing along with the necessary documents regarding ownership or justification of occupation. If you fail to attend or provide a satisfactory explanation, action will be taken as per government records, and eviction proceedings will be initiated (sic).”
Amrita Bhattacharjee, an activist who has been working with the tribals of Aarey, said, “These tribals have been living in constant fear for the past few years. In the name of development, it’s their houses and daily earnings that are on the line. They deserve not to be disturbed with the constant fear of them having to relocate or change the ways of their life, which have been the same for generations.”
Pradip Patil, the Deputy Director (South) of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), told mid-day, “We are not evicting anyone with the notices of encroachment; we have received information that some of the residents have been farming in the monsoon months and otherwise without the proper permits from the authorities. It is this defaulting we want stopped. If the residents show proof of permits, the inquiry would not hold any objections to them. And those who don’t have permits also can apply for permits later on to farm legally.”
Eight demands put forth by tribal associations
>> Cancel all eviction notices given to Adivasi settlements
>> Stop the destruction of tribal homes under the Mumbai development plan
>> Remove Adivasi hamlets from SRA projects
>> Provide fair justice regarding Metro 3 project displacement
>> Cancel forest land acquisition in areas of high tribal density
>> Recognise all Adivasi committees under the Forest Rights Act and stop illegal project implementation
>> Do not include tribal areas in the GMLR project without consent
>> Begin Forest Rights Act recognition procedures immediately
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