Thursday marked the final day for submitting suggestions and objections to the draft Zonal Master Plan (ZMP) of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). But tribal residents from Aarey Milk Colony and SGNP have demanded an immediate halt to the plan, alleging that it was prepared without their consultation or consent.
The Forest Rights Committee (FRC) of the P South ward has written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the chief engineer of the Mumbai Development Plan, demanding that the draft be scrapped and a meeting with the tribal community be held before any decision is taken.
In their letter, the committee said the plan was drawn up without involving the FRC and without settling pending individual and collective forest rights claims, in violation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. “The Forest Rights Committee has not been taken into confidence at any stage while preparing the draft zonal master plan of the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of SGNP, which falls within our jurisdiction,” said Dilip Jadhav, a resident of Aarey Milk Colony.
“Some of our members managed to submit suggestions, but many couldn’t because the draft is in English. Most people in our community don’t understand English, and so we demand that the draft be published in Marathi — and only after taking us into confidence,” Jadhav added. Another tribal resident from SGNP, requesting anonymity, said, “The draft master plan includes provisions for rehabilitation and displacement. We strongly oppose these and will not accept any such move within our jurisdiction.”
In its letter, the Forest Rights Committee has demanded that the ESZ draft zonal master plan be cancelled immediately, that participation and written consent of the relevant Forest Rights Committees be made mandatory for future plans, and that pending forest rights claims be resolved at the earliest.
Activist Zoru Bhathena supported the tribals’ concerns, saying, “The Zonal Master Plan is meant to regulate development in the Eco-Sensitive Zone and ensure eco-friendly livelihoods for local communities — not open the area up for large-scale real estate development. The proposal to divide the zone into ESZ-1, ESZ-2, and ESZ-3 violates the ESZ Notification. This draft must be outright rejected.”
