A march by more than 1,000 tribal community members demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 slowed traffic on Mumbai’s Western Express Highway on Friday, with protesters travelling from Borivli towards Raj Bhavan.
The protest began around 10 am outside the main gate of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli East. A senior traffic official told Mid-Day that traffic on the Western Express Highway had been affected but not completely disrupted, with police and traffic police managing movement on the route.
“Traffic movement on WEH has been affected since 10 am. There hasn’t been complete disruption but it is moving slower than usual,” the official said on Friday afternoon. The situation remained similar at around 3.30 pm, the official said, adding that traffic would improve after the march concluded.
According to protest coordinators, the demonstrators remained near the starting point until about 1.30 pm, saying that police had attempted to restrict them there. The march then proceeded towards Raj Bhavan. By 2.40 pm, protesters had reached Thakur Village in Kandivli, and by around 4.30 pm they had arrived at the Check Naka area in Goregaon East, where they halted for the day.
A coordinator said the march would continue the following day if the protesters did not receive a positive response from the government. The participants said they were seeking recognition of their rights over forest land on which tribal families have lived for generations. They also called for the implementation of laws that, they said, would allow tribal communities to continue their traditional role in conserving and regenerating forests and ecologically sensitive areas, including Aarey and Yeoor.
The protest follows a larger gathering on April 15, when more than 2,400 tribal residents from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region participated in a maha gram sabha at Chinchpada in Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Participants at that meeting opposed the Zonal Master Plan, which they said described tribal residents as “encroachers”, and demanded basic civic facilities for tribal hamlets.
Vikas Baraf, a tribal resident of Yeoor, said the march was part of a continuing protest against the displacement of tribal homes. Vijay Matera, a tribal leader from Wagle Estate, said gram sabhas had submitted signed demand letters to authorities but had not received a response. Prakash Bhoir, a tribal leader from Aarey, said forest-rights claims remained pending despite the submission of documents and that several tribal hamlets still lacked basic amenities.
The protesters’ demands centre on implementation of the two laws, recognition of pending forest-rights claims and a response from the government. Police and traffic authorities were continuing to manage movement along the Western Express Highway as the march proceeded.
