Mumbai Tribals Win Pause on Park Evictions After Protest

When bulldozers arrived at Navapada hamlet Tuesday morning, hundreds of Indigenous families and their supporters formed a human barrier that would change their fate.

The peaceful protest inside Mumbai's Sanjay Gandhi National Park forced forest officials to stop demolishing homes and brought government intervention. By evening, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik ordered all demolition activity paused until further discussions with the Chief Minister.

The forest department had issued notices to 385 families across 10 hamlets, planning to demolish homes they labeled as illegal re-encroachments. Officials claimed these families had already received rehabilitation homes in 1995 under a court order but returned to rebuild inside the park.

But the Indigenous residents tell a different story. Many say the homes targeted belong to their children who were born in the forest before any relocation scheme existed.

"How are we adivasis, original inhabitants of the forest, being termed as encroachers?" asked Dinesh Barap, a resident of Navapada. The families have filed claims under the Forest Rights Act of 2006, which recognizes Indigenous peoples' traditional rights to forest land.

From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., protesters stood firm at Navapada, one of the larger settlements where four Indigenous homes faced demolition. Supporters from nearby Aarey forest and other parts of Mumbai joined them in solidarity.

Why This Inspires

This story shows what's possible when communities unite for justice. The families didn't resort to violence or destruction. They simply stood together, cited their legal rights, and waited.

Their persistence paid off. The government agreed to examine each tribal claim individually rather than proceeding with blanket evictions.

Forest Minister Naik announced a new approach: some families will receive upgraded ground-plus-one homes on 90 acres near their current location. For others, officials will review their Forest Rights Act claims properly before any action.

The pause isn't permanent, but it represents something bigger. Indigenous voices that were being ignored are now being heard at the highest levels of government.

While the forest department maintains that original tribal residents were relocated in 1977, the protesters' unified stand forced officials to acknowledge that the situation deserves closer examination. Legal verification of their ancestral claims is now underway.

For families who spent Republic Day fearing eviction from their ancestral lands, this pause offers hope that justice might prevail over bureaucracy.