The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), located in the centre of Mumbai suburban district is a protected national park under the Indian Forest Act. The conflict over SGNP started when quarrying activities and along with it slums started expanding in and around the national park.
A PIL was filed in 1995 in the Bombay High Court by an environmental group Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) to remove all encroachments including quarrying activities from the national park. The court ordered the forest authorities to conduct a survey of all hutments and make the forest encroachment free. An estimate of 50,000 households were threatened with evictions and the anti-encroachment drive began immediately after the order. However, the slum dwellers fearing homelessnesses protested against such evictions. The protests included marches, gheraoing of conservator's office and political mobilisation. In the same year the state government launched it's free housing scheme for all slum dwellers of Mumbai who had documents prior to 01.01.1995. An amount of Rs 7000 was decided for construction of resettlement homes outside the forest. By the time the judgement for resettlement was delivered nearly 30,000 hutments were demolished.
The court then passed an order providing for resettlement outside the park of all residents who were residing before 1995. A survey was undertaken by the forest conservator authorities and 33,000 homes were declared eligible for resettlement. The first proposal was to shift the residents to Kalyan, around 60 kms from the current site. The people resisted such a resettlement as it would drastically impact their livelihood and lifestyle.
Protests erupted in early 2000s against such a resettlement when slum dwellers were forcefully evicted again in efforts to forcefully relocate them to Kalyan. After this, former prime minister VP Singh joined the slum dwellers in their demand for resettlement in nearby location. A location was finally decided in Chandivali, Powai near the forest region, which was partly deemed as No Development Zone. A two phase development program was decided with Nivara Hakk leading the slum dwellers committee in redevelopment. A developer was decided and the construction was to initiated. However, government and the developer delayed the construction to generate higher profits and slum dwellers had to approach court as well as protest against such delays. Finally in 2007, 11,000 families were resettled in the Chandivali phase 1 of resettlement.
While the first phase of rehabilitation was underway, eligible residents understood that the government was not initiating the clearance of land for second phase of redevelopment. PILs were filed by various resident organisations demanding rehabilitation to all eligible slum dwellers. In 2007, a contempt plea was filed by Samyak Janhit Seva Sansthan demanding resettlement for rest of the residents. In 2016, the land decided for resettlement for rest of the residents was declared eco-sensitive zone and a new land was to be identified. Due to laxity of officials many, new hutments also emerged in the national park creating new demands for removal of encroachments while the old ones were yet to be resettled.
In 2025, frustrated with the delays of state government in resettling slum dwellers, removing all encroachments and fencing the SGNP, the court ordered state government to identify land for resettlement in six months and remove all ineligible residents immediately.
As a result, around 5,000 slum dwellers are currently facing immediate and imminent threat of dispossession from their homes. However, this has also triggered panic amongst residents of SGNP, who are demanding inclusion of all residents based on the revised cut off date of 2011 as eligibility for resettlement.
As on 10 March 2025, the government has not provided any directive on the criteria for eligibility.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for rehabilitation
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for resettlement for all residents based on the 2011 cut-off date.
Region Classification
Urban
Type of Land
Private
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Project underway despite protests
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
Yes
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Residential area
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
Yes
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
Type of investment:
Year of Estimation
Has the Conflict Ended?
No
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
Yes
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Forced evictions/dispossession of land
Non-rehabilitation of displaced people
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Pending
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
No
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Bombay High Court
Case Number
PIL of 48 of 2023, Writ Petition of 305, 1997
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
Date of Violation
Location of Violation
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
Conservator of Forest, Directorof SGNP
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
No
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
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