October 8: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court challenging the Thane Municipal Corporation's (TMC) decision to demolish at least 150 unauthorised bungalows and farmhouses in Yeor jungles. The Parishad contends nearly 2,000 adivasis work on the farms and fields of the numerous bungalow-owners, and the demolition drive would deprive them of their only means of livelihood.Notices were issued to the bungalow-owners early in September, and the demolition drive began on October 6. Only one unauthorised bungalow has been demolished so far. The PIL was admitted by HC on Wednesday. The Parishad is being represented by Advocate M P Vashi.Nearly 2,500 adivasis live in the six padas in Thane's Yeor jungles: Patilpada, Ronachapada, Bhendipada, Narlipada, Patonapada, and Vanichapada. ``There are at least 5 lakh plantations in these padas, and the livelihood of the adivasis depends on them. The demolition of unauthorised bungalows willmean starvation for adivasis,'' said Chandrakant Jadhav, chief of the Parishad's Yeor branch. If the bungalow-owners leave the area, the farming done by adivasis too would stop, he added.The padas, originally adivasi land, were governed by the gram panchayat till 1982. They were then taken over by the TMC. However, adivasis staying here are still deprived of electricity and water connections. They get their water from 8 boring water wells, out of which seven haven't been functioning for the last two months. So the adivasis depend on springs and small water pools, which has led to growing incidences of diseases like gastro and jaundice.While 90 per cent of the adivasis depend on farming activities, the remaining 10 per cent eke out a livelihood by chopping wood from trees in the jungles. This often lands them in trouble with the forest department.Ramdhari Yadav, a small dairy owner in Yeor who supplies milk to many areas in and around Thane, has also been issued a notice by TMC. This, adivasissay, will affect them too, because they have a big stock of cattle which helps them supply milk to the dairy-owner. Plus, the cattle feed on the bungalow-owners' farms and fields, they said.In 1994, notices were first issued to owners of the unauthorised bungalows by the then municipal commissioner Madhukar Patil, but the government then asked the TMC not to undertake the demolition drive. However, by the time the government order reached TMC, four bungalows had already been demolished.
