Adivasi Residents Protest Against Goregaon-Mulund Link Road

Adivasi residents in Habalepada and Nagarmudi Pada have strongly protested against the Mumbai Municipal Corporation's survey, for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project which aims to connect the western and eastern suburbs, reducing travel time by an hour.

The project has been part of the city's development plan since 1991-1992. But Adivasi communities have claimed that their homes and farmland would be affected by this project. Tribals sat on a protest against the construction of twin tunnels that will run under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) hills and exit at Khindipada in Mulund. The survey, met with police protection, encountered resistance from the residents, putting a halt on the surveys on the very first day, causing tension in Areva Residents.

(Representative image)

Dinesh Shanakar Habale, a resident and member of Adivasi Hakk Samvardhan Samiti, revealed concerns about the use of the tunnelling method, which threatens their homes and farmland. Despite filing claims under the Forest Rights Act in 2019, they were not consulted about the project, and Habalepada residents received notices from the Slum Rehabilitation Authority in 2017. Dinesh believes this is a tactic of BMC to label adivasis as slum dwellers and seize their land for destructive projects.

Environmentalist, Amrita Bhattacharjee from Aarey Movement emphasises the right to file claims for individual farm and community rights on forest land, granted to Adivasis under the Forest Rights Act 2006, asserting that BMC's actions, including police custody and physical harm to protesters, were illegal. She criticised the lack of a social impact assessment before initiating the GMLR project. to file claims for individual farm and community rights on forest land. She reported that 12 women and 6 men were taken into police custody.

Municipal officials explained that the survey aimed to assess various factors, including structures, houses, trees, and potential obstacles like electric lines. They argued that the survey's results would help determine the project's impact and explore options to minimise disruptions.