HC raps rehab delay

Court orders Maharashtra to locate three new 90-acre sites for SGNP encroacher rehabilitation, says land must not be near the park.

- Urvi Mahajani

Expressing strong displeasure over the Maharashtra government’s prolonged failure to rehabilitate encroachers from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the state to identify three alternative sites of 90 acres each — “nowhere near SGNP” — for relocating the encroachers.

A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad issued the direction after the state sought more time to regularise the proposed rehabilitation site at Marol-Maroshi. The petitioner said the identified plot falls within the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Aarey Colony. “We may indicate that alternative land must not be in the vicinity of SGNP,” it said, adding that it was “disappointed with the slow pace” of the government's actions despite court directions dating back nearly 20 years.