Hundreds of Tribals march for Aarey Colony

Mumbai: Hundreds of tribals from Aarey Milk Colony gathered at noon on Tuesday to protest the rehabilitation proposed by the state government.

Aarey, the last green lung of Mumbai, which is also home to 27 hamlets, is being gobbled up by developers under the garb of various projects including the metro car shed and biological zoo, the tribals said, while the community is being shifted to 480 square feet houses in other areas.

All hamlets participated in the protest carrying banners representing each pada (settlement). “There are newspaper reports where the project proponents are saying that tribals have agreed to shift to SRA buildings. Our group went to each pada and asked the people about the same. Nobody wants to leave their farmlands and discard their indigenous lifestyle but the state is forcing our community to shift to a congested five-acre site,” said Prakash Bhoir, a tribal from Ketlipada.

The group gathered at the colony’s dairy and submitted a letter with their demands to the officials. “Whenever the officials hold a meeting about us, there is never a single representative of ours. How can they take decisions about us and not seek our opinion on the matters,” said Shyam Bhoir, a tribal.

Apart from warli tribals from Aarey, but the adivasi community from Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Palghar and Yeoor joined the demonstration.