Mumbai's SNGP readies to lock its boundary to prevent encroachment

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park is gearing up for a massive fortification drive. The plan, mooted by forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, will see construction of a 10 to 15-feet-high boundary wall across the perimeter of the 104-sqkm-forest park.

At present, the boundary wall is broken at several places, providing free access to people, especially encroachers and anti-social elements, who enter the forest late into the night.

Confirming the development, Mungantiwar said, "Since SGNP is located within the city limits, it acts as the green lungs of Mumbai. Hence, protecting the forest cover has always topped our agenda. I am soon going to ask the authorities concerned to speed up the process for construction of the new boundary wall so that entry of people is restricted."

Currently, only 25-35 km of the existing 92 km boundary of the park has been walled.

Pawan Sharma from NGO RAWW said, "On the Mulund side of the park, which is the eastern periphery of the park, there are various locations where there is no boundary wall at all. Constructing a boundary wall is the best option to stop illegal entry into the forest."

The absence of a boundary wall in the western section of the park, which includes Dahisar, Malad (E), Kandivli (E), Goreagaon (E) has also opened the place to land sharks.

According to sources, the Public Works Department will be undertaking construction work of the boundary wall and SGNP will be funding the project.

As per the plans, there will be a 10-15-feet-high concrete wall with watchtowers at strategic locations, so that the forest department can keep a tab on any kind of illegal activity in the area. There are also plans to install fences at a few locations, to prevent people from trying to climb the top of the wall.