Aarey, SGNP tribals protest relocation to SRA accommodations

MUMBAI: The residents of tribal villages in Aarey Milk Colony, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and other parts of the state held a protest on Tuesday at the collector’s office in Thane regarding various problems faced by them.

“The accommodation that they are allocating is too small for us. We live in houses that have large courtyards in front of it,” said Prakash Bhoir, a tribal leader from Aarey.

The protest highlighted their fear of getting relocated to Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) accommodations due to the construction of the Metro car shed.

The protest comes after 50 families from Prajapurpada in Aarey were relocated to SRA accommodation earlier this year.

The residents also discussed other problems faced by them such as lack of basic amenities provided to them, delay in providing caste certificates, etc.

Asha Bhoye, a resident of Prajapurpada, who was asked to move out of her 40-guntha (close to 1 acre) land around a month ago, has moved to the high court regarding the same.

“We were not informed that our house will be taken away from us. We have written to Aarey authorities and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), but none of them responded to us. Because of this, we have now taken to the streets so that our voices will be heard,” said Bhoye.