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OXYGEN PARK …….Viju B
THE SPRAWLING SANJAY GANDHI PARK IS MUMBAI’S GREEN LUNG, BUT ENCROACHMENTS ARE SHRINKING THIS BREATHING SPACE In a commerciopolis whose concrete jungle has only vertical space left for manouevre, it’s nothing short of a miracle that a 104-square-kilometre stretch of verdant green still breathes. Bordering the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park is, perhaps, the largest urban park in the world, 30 times bigger than New York’s famed Central Park. The Borivli park is the Maharashtra capital’s lung, as it were, soaking in the plumes that its three lakh-plus vehicles emit every day.
The lung, however, breathes heavy. The park battles rampant encroachment by real estate sharks who have been chipping the hills from all sides to erect apartment complexes, even as it proves succour to 1.5 crore Mumbaikars. Environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali puts it in context: “It’s a city where land is costlier than gold.”
Left to lawmakers and babus, the park would have caved in to the hungry tide of humanity aeons ago. Incredible as it may sound, there was actually a proposal in the early ’70s to construct a road
cutting right through the forest. Fortunately for the city, the project was stalled after environmentalist Humayun Ali petitioned the court.
The court relief kept ‘development’ at bay, but it was only half the battle won. The first concrete action for the park’s conservation took place following a PIL filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group. The Bombay High Court ordered the eviction of all encroachers from forest land. A spate of court cases followed, with slum-dwellers and citizens’ groups contending that all land inside the park was not forest property and calling for a re-survey of the forest boundary. The court disagreed.
The Supreme Court concurred, while hearing a bunch of special leave petitions last year, stating that it would not interfere with judgments passed by the lower court. The apex court did not grant a stay on the demolitions, only going so far as to allow the slumdwellers to approach the statutory authority with their grievances.
“Our 14-year struggle to protect the national park from ‘slumlords’ and politicians finally paid off,” says Debi Goenka, founder-trustee of Conservation Action Trust, a group at the forefront of the fight to keep the park pristine.
Environmentalists say the state has yet to rehabilitate or remove around 13,000 families from the park precincts. “The number of tribals residing in the core forest area has gone up to 1,000 after land sharks usurped their land on the park’s periphery,” Goenka said.
A forest official admitted as much, but insisted the core area has remained untouched. P N Munde, chief conservator of forests at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, agrees Mumbai is fortunate to have such a huge green lung. “We have been pulling out all the stops to preserve the park’s flora and fauna,” he said.
The last census in 2009 showed that there were 22 leopards roaming the park. Yet, for the 20,000 hectares that the forest covers, there are just 123 permanent security guards and 80-odd temporary ones who have no statutory powers. That means one guard, in any form, for every four-five kilometres, way below the ideal of one guard for every kilometre.
Issues of man-animal conflict and construction activities cheekby-jowl with the park have also raised concerns.
There have been losses aplenty. But the park’s core area still houses 1000 plant species, 251 species of birds, 5,000 species of insects, 40 species of mammals, 38 species of reptiles and fish and 150 species of butterflies. It also has two large lakes, Tulsi and Vihar, which provide water to the city.
The vigil needs to be kept up. As Bittu Sehgal of Sanctuary magazine warns, “We need to preserve the forest if Mumbaikars wish to live healthier, longer lives.”
* NATURE TRAIL: The park brings together Mumbai’s morning walkers, joggers, lovers and nature lovers
* GETAWAY IN THE HEART OF THE CITY: The Sanjay Gandhi Park of Borivli in a burst of green during monsoon
* WILD FRAME: Tigers in the park that also boasts 22 leopards
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