Next, Thane squatters targetted

November 17: They have changed identity twice and dodged the bulldozers on two occasions. But this time, it seems, the 500 encroachers em...

November 17: They have changed identity twice and dodged the bulldozers on two occasions. But this time, it seems, the 500 encroachers embedded in the Yeoor foothills will have to succumb to the government8217;s efforts to reclaim 500 acres of forest land in the Thane jurisdiction of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP.

The state Forest Department, which met with state Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar in mid-October to discuss the demolition of encroachments near Carvalho Nagar, has now requisitioned a platoon of State Reserve Police SRP and plans to raze over 100 small metal, dye and chemical workshops and small but pucca residential structures as soon as the reinforcements arrive.

The plan was finalised after the Bombay High Court vacated a stay on the demolition on October 1. Though the judgement regarding encroachments in the SGNP, in both Thane and Mumbai, was delivered on July 11, 1999, the verdict regarding the 500 encroachers in Thane was reserved following conflicting claims over the statusof the encroached land.

The petition against over 35,000 encroachments in the park had been filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group BEAG in 1995. However, in August 1997, the court granted a stay on the Thane encroachments, when the 500 squatters produced a certificate issued by the land record officer LRO of the Thane collectorate, stating that the land on which they stood was government and not forest land.

Then, on July 11, 1999, the court ruled that all encroachers in the park should be relocated outside. Those who failed to opt for relocation would, however, have their structures deemed as illegal and they would have to be razed. The order on the Thane encroachments was, however, reserved as the conflicting claims over the status of the land on which they stood had not yet been resolved.

Subsequently, on July 27, the Forest Department produced in court a letter issued by the collector8217;s office, nullifying the LRO8217;s certificate and confirmed that the land on which the encroachments stoodwas indeed forest land. The letter had stated that the LRO8217;s certificate with regard to Survey No 520 was erroneous and that the property fell in the jurisdiction of the Forest Department. The stay on demolition was finally vacated on October 1.

Among the encroachments are three residential buildings, each comprising 48 flats. There are also about 340 families residing in pucca

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, single-storey structures. The residential encroachments are located behind a row of about 100 commercial establishments, including beer bars, gas agencies, garages, engineering workshops and a tabela.

Using a nullah separating the property from the Yeoor Hills to claim that the land they had occupied did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department, the squatters claimed that they stood on government land, which fell on the other side of the nullah.

Elaborating on the demolition plan, Deputy Conservator of Forests, A R Bharti, told Express Newsline that the government had proposed to begin thedemolition on October 27 but had postponed it due to the transport strike and police bandobast for Diwali. 8220;We forwarded an application for a platoon of SRP a fortnight ago and will begin razing the structures as soon as it arrives.8221;

Deputy Commissioner of Police, P S Solunke, confirmed that he had received the Forest Department8217;s application for the SRP batallion, saying it had been forwarded to the office of the state director general of police. 8220;We are expecting it to be sanctioned within a week,8221; he said.