Gorai claws back at govt over lost turf

The objects of concern are three prime projects which collectively comprise the 1,300 acres, viz 753 acres to EsselWorld to expand its amusement village (the amusement park already occupies 64 acres), 570 acres to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) for tourism purposes and another 15-20 acres for an old-age home proposed to be built by a political party.

The manner in which the land is being parcelled out is especially galling, residents say, as the property is protected by law under the CoastalRegulation Zone (CRZ) notification and Development Control Rules (as the property falls in a No-Development Zone (NDZ).

The Koli inhabitants, whose livelihood depends on fishing and farming across the islands of Gorai, Culvem and Manori, have rallied together under the banner of the Gorai Bachav Sangharsh Samiti and vow to protect what they believe is rightfully theirs. The ruling alliance government’s controversial decisions, they fear, will eventually stamp their culture and livelihood out of existence.

After announcing their agitation at a press conference on Monday the samiti’s members strode across the creek to the tehsildar’s office in Borivli today to register their protest.

Residents say that while they are denied basic infrastructural facilities and cannot build houses, the government has been clearing various proposals in a jiffy by circumventing the rules. For instance, a request for a 20×20 sq ft diesel pump station was turned down citing CRZ and NDZ regulations since the last 15years!

Pointing out that the projects will also wreck the delicate ecology of the region, several Kolis Express Newsline spoke to said the lush green mangroves where the MTDC and EsselWorld projects are to take shape have been chemically burnt thus destroying the breeding grounds of fish.

“Some 80-odd families live here and others trudge from their villages for their catch which is done through fug-net fishing in the off-season,” explains resident Lourdes D’Souza alleging that pipes laid for movement of water in the creek have been deliberately blocked. Residents also allege that the state government only last year clandestinely cleared the pitch for EsselWorld’s amusement park and allied projects, which have been trapped in a legal mesh since over a decade. On December 20, 1996, Justice P B Upasani of the Bombay High Court ruled that “… the pendency of the suit in this court may not come in the way of the concerned authority of the state government for deciding the said representationmade by the plaintiffs (EsselWorld)….”

In other words, the court thus left it to the government to decide on the disposal of the land currently occupied by the amusement park, pending settlement of its ownership, which on paper remains a matter of dispute till date. Tracing the genesis of the EsselWorld controversy, locals furnish the 6/12 land extract which mentions that the British in 1885 had leased 753 acres to a resident Shamrao Welkar for 999 years. As Welkar had indulged in violations, the land was attached in March 1946. Welkar’s descendants then filed an affidavit claiming it as their ancestral property. The land was placed in the custody of the court receiver, who in turn sold it in auction to one Spot Builders in 1983. Ram Naik, member of Parliament from the North Mumbai constituency, then raised the issue with the then Congress chief minister S B Chavan.

After an inquiry the matter was decided in favour of Spot Builders by the Special Development Officer and the Deputy Collector (Appeals).However, when the matter was transferred to the Konkan Division Revenue Commissioner, he decided on September 13, 1988, that the government and not Spot Builders were the rightful owners and that the court receiver had no right to sell the land to a private party. Later that year, Spot Builders filed a writ petition in the High Court but its appeal was dismissed by Justice Sujata Manohar who stated that several facts deserved to be investigated. The company then filed another suit and a division bench upheld Manohar’s decision in 1989.

Meanwhile, Spot Builders merged with Essel Amusement Park on July 13, 1989. Ownership of the company was subsequently transferred to EsselWorld’s new outfit, Pan India Paryatan Ltd , which went ahead and built an amusement park at the site. But, says EsselWorld owner Ashok Goel: “The government has ruled in favour of us. Hence we are the owners of the land now.” He says expansion plans include a 90,000 sq ft `Dhamma Pattan’ and a Vipassana centre including the world’stallest pagoda. “Over the last year, huge housing blocks for EsselWorld staff have been built as well as a car park on a pond. Our worst fears have been confirmed,” says Sister Blanche of St Aloysius High School here.