Mumbai, March 10 The Maharashtra government will soon make a decision on the rehabilitation of eligible encroachers residing in the protected area of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in suburban Mumbai, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik informed the legislative council on Tuesday.
The sprawling SGNP, covering an impressive 87 square kilometers, is one of the few national parks in the world located within a major metropolitan city.
Responding to a calling attention notice raised by Pravin Darekar (BJP), Naik said the government has planned to address the issue of encroachments in the national park area in phases.
He said claims of 11,359 encroachers were examined in the first phase, of which 299 were found eligible for rehabilitation, an exercise which is still pending. In the second phase, the government is considering issues related to 13,486 encroachers.
There is a proposal to rehabilitate around 2,200 families by constructing houses for tribal families on around 20 acres of land in the Aarey Colony area in Goregaon. A meeting has been scheduled at the Chief Minister's Office to facilitate the rehabilitation process, he told the Upper House.
The minister said instructions will be issued to the concerned departments not to obstruct repair works related to basic amenities such as water supply and toilets in settlements located outside the national park area.
Members Anil Parab, Chitra Wagh, Rajesh Rathod and Manisha Kayande also participated in the discussion.
Nikhil Deshmukh, Senior Chief Correspondent,