Adivasis write to BMC, seek compensation for loss of homes and farmlands to GMLR
Adivasi hamlets in Aarey's Film City, Mumbai, are in a state of unease after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation rejected their claims to land under the Forest Rights Act. The Adivasi Habale Pada Mandal has written a letter to the civic body objecting to the decision and demanding compensation. The civic body has refuted the claims and stated that a forest rights committee needs to be formed before any decision can be made. The survey for the proposed Goregaon Mulund Link Road is being carried out to determine the impact on the Adivasi land.
An uneasy calm has settled over two adivasi hamlets – Habale pada and Nagarmudi pada – in Aarey’s Film City.
A week after a protest resulted in a clash with police, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) arrived to conduct a survey for the proposed Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR), the Adivasi Habale Pada Mandal on Monday wrote to the civic body. The letter objected to the civic body’s decision to reject the residents’ claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, which would officially take away their rights to the land and deny them compensation.
“We had in 2019 filed collective and individual claims to the land and paddy and vegetable cultivation under the Act. The BMC last month rejected our claims on the basis that the grounds our houses are located on are not in a forest area. However, the civic body told us separately we should contest and reapply for the claims,” Dinesh Habale, a leader from Habale pada said.
The letter said the civic body’s rejection was not valid as the decision was taken without consulting the forest rights committee of their civic ward.
Sanjay Jadhav, assistant commissioner for P South ward, refuted that Habal pada’s FRA claims were rejected.
“The ward’s forest rights committee has not yet formed, so the claims cannot be rejected. We have given them time till February 25 to appoint 15 people from all the adivasi padas in the ward to form the committee,” he said.
Jadhav claimed that the survey is being carried out just to understand if and how much of their land is going to be affected by GMLR, as the underground tunnels and the approach road will be constructed there. “A letter about it will be sent to them on Tuesday after which we will conduct the survey.”
A provision of ₹1,870 crore has been made for GMLR in the BMC’s budget for 2024-25. As part of the road, tunnels have been planned under Aarey for it. The groundbreaking ceremony will be done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19, when he arrives to inaugurate one arm of Coastal Road.
The adivasis are not opposed to the survey or the GMLR, explained Dinesh. “But we need to know exactly what the survey is for, have prior notice about it, and assurance that we will receive appropriate compensation in return for our homes and farmlands.”
The adivasis have a lot to lose if a road passes in the middle of their hamlet. Cultivation of vegetables takes place in some plots which have easy access to water throughout the year; currently, eggplants, cabbage, chawli, chillies, are among the crops growing.
“Our way of life is under threat. We will do our part to protect it,” said Neelam Lahu Habale, an adivasi from Thane who shifted to Habale pada after marriage, and who was among the protesters on January 30.
About 18 people, most of them women, were detained and let off in the evening. For the next two days, the residents continued to stand guard at the entrance to their padas to prevent any more attempts at the survey. But no more BMC surveyors or police personnel arrived.
While no formal notice had been given to them, Dinesh had gotten wind that the BMC had requested police permission for three days for the survey. It was the women who sat guard at the entrance to Film City and their pada since 11am on that day.
“Around 150 of us had been there since morning,” said Lalita Naresh Habale, another protester. “But as the BMC didn’t arrive till late afternoon, some of us left. Civic officials and the police came after 3.30pm, and first had a lengthy conversation with our leaders. Finally, it was agreed that we would submit a letter with our demands before the survey began, but they did not agree to halt the survey.”
Around 5 pm, the police became aggressive, alleged Neelam. “They started pushing, shoving and using lathis on us to get us, especially our leaders, into the police van. But we formed a chain and prevented them from doing so. Some were taken.”
“It was after that they started to do the survey, using their equipment to measure the land. We rushed to the spot and put an end to it,” she added.
After the detainees were released, six injured protesters went to HBT trauma care hospital. There, they claimed, they were not given treatment as it was a police case, and a letter from the police was needed. The Aarey police allegedly refused to comply with the request, and the injured left the hospital untreated by 11.30pm, seeking medical help at a local clinic the next day. A complaint regarding this was also sent to officials, including the hospital’s medical superintendent, about it.
Jagdish Deshmukh, senior police inspector at Aarey sub police station, said only necessary force was applied to get the protesters into the van. “They were kept for a few hours and let off. No one was gravely injured,” he said.