Inching forward: State clears plan to continue building SGNP wall

The wall was ordered to be built by the Bombay High Court in 1997, as a measure to prevent encroachments in Mumbai’s green lung

MUMBAI: The state has approved a proposal of the Forest Department to continue building the boundary wall around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) – a project that has seen only 2.37km being constructed in the last seven years. The work is pegged at ₹194 crore.

Silver Clophill Lane is very narrow and gets flooded only two-three times a year when it rains very heavily. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

The wall was ordered to be built by the Bombay High Court in 1997, as a measure to prevent encroachments in Mumbai’s green lung. Twenty eight years later, after coming under fire from the court for dragging its heels on it earlier order, the state last week approved work on the remainder of the wall.

From November 2017 to date, only 2.37km of the wall was built – inching forward from 47.09km to 49.46km of a total length of 154.6km, according to data shared with HT by the chief conservator and director of SGNP, Anita Patil, and from court documents.

Subtracting portions of private walls and where the terrain acts as a natural boundary, this leaves 76.423km – 49.4% of the total – where a wall remains to be built.

As the boundary has barely moved forward, the number of encroachers in the park has swelled, a contentious issue the state has failed to tackle over several decades, despite litigation. “None of the authorities is serious about implementing the court’s order,” said Debi Goenka, founder of the Conservation Action Trust (CAT) who filed a contempt petition on the non-compliance with the high court’s 1997 order.

“The authorities have continued to build bits and pieces of the wall, at snail’s pace, not only allowing slum-dwellers to continue to stay inside but allowing them to make gaps for easy access. In the meantime, the slum-dwellers from the park who were rehabilitated have returned, and more encroachers have added to their numbers,” he said.

Explaining the formalities, a deputy director of the SGNP said, “The approval of work on the wall was given in response to the proposals we sent. After funds are allocated for the Forest Department, we approach the Public Works Department (PWD) to actually construct the wall.”

But, Goenka said, “For the PWD, the work is small fry, so they do not act on it as it is also tedious. They also face opposition from the encroachers. Or, the money is allocated and instructed to be used in too short a period,” he said.

SGNP officials blame the slow pace of construction on the slums. “Many portions of the boundary are under dispute due to encroachments at these spots. When people are living there, we can’t build a wall there. But our latest proposal sent to the state government has included these encroached portions. Those who are considered eligible will be rehabilitated, but that’s a decision to be taken by the state,” said the deputy director of the park.

An official from the PWD claimed that permissions for proposals and approvals for funds from the government take time. “The boundaries being disputed also add to the time,” she said.

Goenka said this is not the whole story. “How does the question of dispute arise when the HC itself has approved the SGNP boundary and area? The forest department does not want to talk about the many builders that are also embroiled in disputes on the boundary, some stuck in the various courts. Besides, it is the state government’s responsibility to have emptied the SGNP of all encroachments by now,” he said.

He added that the latest approval of ₹194 crore will make little or no difference. “It is just one step in a long process.”

Goenka had filed a contempt petition in the high court in 2024, for the state’s failure to comply with the 1997 order to build a boundary wall and get rid of the encroachments. A date for the next hearing is yet to be fixed.