Mumbai: After facing flak from the Bombay High Court over unabated encroachments and the prolonged issue of rehabilitating slumdwellers in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the state government has drawn up a plan to construct a protective wall around the park at a cost of approximately Rs 196 crore.
As many as 16 government resolutions (GR) were issued on Monday to accord administrative approval for the construction of the compound wall that aims to protect the 103.84sq km park spread across Mumbai and Thane districts.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to chair a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the rehabilitation plan for 90 acres of land that will be handed over to the Maharashtra Housing Area and Development Authority (MHADA). After the meeting, the state will file an affidavit before the HC to spell out its plan to protect the park, as well as the rehabilitation of slumdwellers.
While hearing a contempt petition over non-compliance with a 1995 order of the HC in a public interest litigation (PIL), a bench comprising the then Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar had directed the state to file an affidavit on the steps taken to ensure removal of the slums that had come up before January 1, 1995.
Observation Made By The Bench
“We cannot allow SGNP to slip away from Mumbai city. We just cannot allow it,” the bench had said. “What would happen if encroachment reaches the two lakes in the park that supply water to Mumbai,” the bench had asked.
The state is likely to submit details of the plan for the construction of the protective wall as well as the administrative approval given to it. The wall, according to the GRs, will be built covering areas such as Mulund, Yeoor, and Ghodbunder Road (Thane), near the Vihar Lake, Dahisar, and Magathane.
