Mumbai: Land mafia approaching to construct houses in Aarey, say tribals

Crude structures built on land in Unit 13 of Aarey Milk Colony. This is how encroachers grab land. Representation pics

After 808 acres of land in Aarey Milk Colony was declared as forest by the state government, some tribal people staying in the area are being approached by land mafias asking to construct houses, half the sale proceeds of which they're offering to share with the tribals. It has been observed that for the first time, ground-plus-one structures are coming up in tribal hamlets.

The 808 acres of land was declared a forest by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over two months ago. He had also promised to protect existing structures, people residing in the area and the rights of tribals.

Encroachers' modus operandi involves clearing the targeted land of trees first

Aarey has several cattle farms, their owners' residences, Aarey Dairy, 27 tribal hamlets and several slum pockets. mid-day has been highlighting issues of illegal encroachment that pose a threat to forest patches and to the biodiversity. A tribal from Aarey said, "As the government has assured that tribals will not be displaced, the land mafia, involved in the construction of illegal houses, are trying to lure a few tribals with lucrative offers. The tribals being approached are those having huge chunks of land surrounding their houses. They say if we let them construct small houses, they will sell those and share the amount on a 50:50 basis. One such land mafia approached me as I have a lot of space surrounding my house, but I clearly said no."

Aarey has a Chief Executive Officer, whose security department is supposed to monitor the area and act against encroachers. Another tribal alleged, "Some officials in Aarey CEO's office are aware of the encroachment. Anyone who can spend '5-7 lakh can construct a house in Aarey. A local land mafia and contractor approached me with an offer to construct a house next to mine. Local contractors are under impression that the government will not take action against illegal houses in tribal hamlets. It's high time that the CEO's office takes action against land mafia and local contractors." Aarey CEO Nathu Rathod was unavailable for comment.

Oct 11
Day the chief minister announced 808 acres of land in Aarey as forest