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Religion eating up Mumbai's green lung

Religious activities inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park have not only sounded the alarm bells over the usurping of government land, but are also posing a threat to the animals and the forest cover.

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Tejal Vishweshwara, a Borivli resident and environment activist, has been working toe-to-toe with the forest department for five years now to regulate the movement of devotees at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) during Mahashivratri.

She fears that if religious activities within it are not contained, “the park will shrink and the man-animal conflict will worsen”.

Vishweshwara’s hyperbole might be closer to the truth than imagined. Since early May, white splotches of lime have increasingly been replacing the forest cover of the hill ranges on the eastern fringe of the national park. It’s hard to miss the contours of an almost continuous stretch of white blocks of stones, which serve as steps leading to the popular Mamu-Bhanje dargah atop the hill, from the hutments below, in the Wagle estate area of Thane. Renovated with white lime and strong black stones for the dargah’s yearly three-day ‘Urs’, held in the first week of May during Buddha Purnima, these steps have set the alarm bells ringing among forest officials and environmental activists involved in the conservation of the SGNP. They fear that such a move has upset the ecological balance of the park.

Safety in numbers
There are at least three ‘babas’ — Bhoir Baba, Gaikwad Baba and Fakkad Baba — who live in well-built concrete temples inside the SGNP along the Thane-Mulund stretch. Each stakes a claim on a sizeable strength of devotees, including influential local politicians.

So smug is Bhoir Baba about the influence he wields that he has even put up a board declaring that the temple land within the precincts is privately-owned. The Mamu-Bhanje dargah, too, enjoys similar patronage. Its trust has now sought the state government’s approval to declare the temple an official pilgrimage site.

The dangers
Environmental activists say the cropping up of such establishments on the peripheries the SGNP is an indication to the usurping of the forest land under the pretext of religious activities.

Stalin D, a project director with Vanashakti, a non-profit organisation, says, “At the time the ‘Urs’ was being held, the forest department was conducting it annual wildlife census. Unlike what was done in the past, this time, organisers [of the religious activity] built a well-lit, virtually continuous stretch of steps, which are found in regular shrines. The elaborate lighting arrangements were powered by diesel generators. A human activity of such magnitude inside the park has disturbs animals. When devotees drop rubbish along the way, it increases the risks of damage to the flora and fauna.”

He alleges that government authorities are hand in glove with such religious heads. “The fact that a baba can put up a board declaring his shrine to be privately-owned shows the kind of political and administrative backing to the religious encroachments.”

Getting approval stamp through paltry fine
Forest officials say they have found out that the trust controlling the dargah had got it “regularised” by paying a penalty Rs500 in April 1980 to the forest department. “We don’t know how this was permitted. We are now trying to find a way out of this situation,” says an official.

Forest officials assure of a clampdown on such religious establishments. But their plan will stay that way until they get a political nod.  SG Fale, assistant conservator of forests, Yeor range, is, however, cautious ab–out pinning blame. “We cannot simply remove the encroachments without giving the affected party a chance to have its say [in the matter]. Orders for taking action against them have been taken issued. We will act on them soon.”

‘Why target dargah?’
In defence of the Mamu-Bhanje dargah, Noor Mohammad, secretary of its trust, says: “The dargah has been here for more than 350 years. Our trust was registered first in 1958 and then it was updated to a public one in 2009 after the last member of the original group of trustees passed away in 2006. The forest department does not object to the nuisance created by celebrations during each weekend at the Film City, but spares no words in criticising our Urs, which happens for just three days in a year. We have got a nod from the state government for continuing this as a pilgrimage site and the pending documentation work will be completed soon.”

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