Mumbai News: Aarey Tribal Residents Protest Demolition Of Shops In Mayur Nagar-Jivachapada, Dairy Dept Agrees To Meet Protesters

Mumbai: Residents of tribal villages inside Aarey Milk Colony, Goregaon, marched to the dairy department's office on Friday afternoon to protest against the demolition of their shops in Mayur Nagar-Jivachapada on Tuesday.

The dairy department destroyed 30 to 35 stalls that sold food and drinks to visitors. While a majority of the structures belonged to the tribal families, some were managed by encroachers.

The tribal families said they are protected by the Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights) Act, which recognises the rights of forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent.

"The tribal families are largely uneducated and farming and small shops are our source of income. They served us a notice on Friday and demolished the shops before we could reply to the notice," said Nandu Varte, a resident of Jivachapada.

Aarey, which is spread over 1000 hectares, including a buffer zone for the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, has 27 tribal settlements that predate the dairy colony set up in 1949. The villages have over 10,000 inhabitants from the Warli, Malhar Koli, and Kokna communities. There is a large population of encroachers in the slums inside the wooded colony, one of the last natural areas in the city.

The dairy development has agreed to meet the protestors on Tuesday to hear their grievances.