'Lungs of the City 'Mumbai SGNP Fears Displacement of the Tribals, Environmental Loss

Sanjay Gandhi National Park, one of the few national parks in the world located within city limits in Mumbai, is back in the public discourse, yet again. But, owing to the concerns being raised by the citizens and the activists for the BMC’s draft Zonal Master Plan. 

Last week, the Bombay High Court constituted a high-power committee to safeguard the park, finding the successive governments' failure to do it for the last 30 years. However, even before this , and, at least for the last month now, environmentalists have been criticising the Draft Zonal Master Plan (ZMP) for the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), proposed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Government, citing the ignorance of the forest areas that lie within Mumbai.

"The rights of the tribals to reside without fear of displacement are absent from the document. The focus is on 'encroachers', which is an ambiguous term that can be misused for removing genuine tribals from the park. The document speaks of 39 padas, but how their lives will be impacted is not clear. So, it gives rise to fear of displacement," says Habitat Conservationist and Director of NGO Vanashakti, Stalin D, referring to the Draft Zonal Master Plan (ZMP), which Local Samosa has read. 

Activists fear local displacement 

Stalin has been vocal about the problems and has raised objections with the civic body, as the BMC had invited suggestions and objections from the people. In a document accessed by us, where he has submitted detailed objections to the civic body, the concerns for the locals have been highlighted, other than the environmental concerns.

"This is not planning — it’s planned displacement. The Adivasis of SGNP face loss of home, heritage, and identity because of a faulty, insensitive plan that sees only land — not lives," B N Kumar, director, NatConnect Foundation says, with a question, "Maharashtra even has a Ministry of Tribal Development — but has the BMC bothered to consult it? Or do they expect the Ministry itself to go online and ‘file suggestions and objections any ordinary citizen?"

Talking about the local communities and their importance in the inclusion of the plans, Kumar says, "Be it the Koli or Agri community during the making of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai — the story is the same: the local people are never part of the plan, only the price of it. The Kolis live by the sea and preserve its rhythm through traditional fishing. The Agris (Agaris) have nurtured the salt pans for generations, sustaining both economy and ecology. How can these short-sighted planners expect such rooted communities to simply relocate and survive elsewhere?" he asks.

Both citizens and environmentalists have been highlighting that the plan does not include protection for natural forests, hills, and river origins in areas such as Aarey, Dindoshi, Gundgaon, Sai Bangoda, Yeoor, and Mori. They also suspect that the only natural river ecosystem at Chena might be destroyed through this master plan.

Moreover, the plan also allows for 210 acres of unconstructed forest and hill land open to "development", - being one of the other major concerns. Activists have highlighted that ecotourism and construction projects have been allowed in these areas, which goes directly against the Supreme Court-appointed committees recommending strict protection.

In the objections raised by the NGO Vanshakti, it has demanded a halt to all ESZ-2 construction and a review before the plan's approval.

The ignorance of wildlife and the census

SGNP houses a wide variety of endangered flora and fauna, including leopards, 300 bird species, 43 mammal species, around 150 butterfly species and several reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, as per reports. Back in 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had announced the area around the park as an eco-sensitive zone (ESG), and the draft Zonal Masterplan is dedicated to recognising the ecology around the park and regulating land use and further developments covering SGNP, Yeoor Hills, and Aarey Colony. 

In addition, the current ESZ draft seems to have "ignored" the wildlife, vocalists mention. On asked how the draft might impact the wildlife, as the comprehensive census in SGNP done for wild animals has not been done since 2011, Stalin says, "the lack of a credible wildlife census for over a decade reflects poorly on the Forest department. This lacuna defeats any possible conservation or management plan from being effective."

He informs, "The draft admits that the team which did the ground survey was scared to venture into the forests of Aarey. They chose to post photos of the crowd, pigeons and monkeys instead of leopards, rusty spotted cat, hornbills, spotted deer, monitor lizards, rock pythons, etc. "So, unless you know the wildlife species present in the ESZ, what conservation measures can you undertake or plan?" he asks.

B N Kumar echoes the same sentiment. "Mind you, the Centre hasn’t conducted a proper population census since 2011, leaving us virtually in the dark about our demographic and ecological realities." "For instance, he continues, "if we know there are about 50 leopards in a forest, we can estimate their food needs and plan for the prey base accordingly. This helps prevent human-animal conflicts and reduces the risk of wild animals straying into residential zones." Kumar adds that keeping an accurate count of wildlife is key to maintaining the ecological health of our National Parks and conserving them effectively. 

The activists, through their objections raised, have also highlighted the negligence of Oshiwara, Chena, and Poisar rivers, along with their floodplains and riparian forests from the mention in the draft.

When 'how to raise a concern' becomes yet another concern

Even though the NGO like Van Shakti, have sumbit objections, as the civic body had askef for the objections and suggestions till October 17, there lied lack of transparency in even raising the concerns, as reportedly locals mentioned that they had a difficult time.

"One of the biggest flaws in this entire process is the complete lack of transparency — there are no contact details for filing objections or suggestions! Are citizens just expected to shout into the air like mad people, posting on social media that none of the so-called urban planners even bother to read?" asks B N Kumar. "The team at 'Save SGNP' has rightly flagged the glaring lapse that the public gets the standard, robotic line - 'our post has been referred to the concerned department.' That’s where the matter dies."

However, some have even found submitting difficult, citing the mandate being in the English language. As per reports, people had also mentioned that it is difficult for the adivasis to visit, as the 400-page draft plan was released only in English. Moreover, some also mentioned that they were asked to travel through departments while submitting the objections offline. Reports mention a resident of SGNP in Yeoor claiming that the municipal officials refused to accept their written objections.

"I believe en masse, the larger awareness of such a critical proposal to dilute the ESZ protocols in place demarcating the 'not to cross the line' is being blurred, which in turn is fragmenting the forest for years now. The greater picture 'well-being' of an ultra-hyper-developing city with no checks in place, just shoving up concrete development down our throats," Abhay Azad, an environmental activist, says, adding, "it's like, let's make all the illegal stuff 'legit " in the name of introducing such a sham of a proposal."

Talking to Local Samosa, Kumar even includes how such a negligent model is not limited to the park. "Instead of protecting the few green lungs we have left — like Sanjay Gandhi National Park — the government seems hell-bent on choking them in the name of development. The same destructive philosophy runs across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region — whether it’s the Navi Mumbai International Airport, salt pan leasing for real estate, or wetlands buried for SEZs and tech parks."