Last year the Maharashtra Department of Tourism revealed plans to build the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj War Art Museum on a 136-acre plot in Gorai. The Warli community of Gorai is concerned about the potential loss of their residences and the forests to this urban development initiative, fearing that this could pave the way for additional urban construction projects.
The proposed museum
Last June, the Maharashtra Tourism Department, led by State Tourism Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha announced plans to establish the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj War Art Museum in Gorai, Mumbai.
Maharastra state government has approved a budget of Rs.50 cores for the museum. The museum will occupy 136 acres of land and showcase replicas of Shivaji Maharaj’s forts. The museum will also feature information on guerilla warfare, war tactics, and details of Shivaji Maharaj’s various battles.
Fears of the tribals
Since the announcement of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj War Art Museum, Gorai has been frequented by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) staff along with police. The locals view this as an intimidation tactic, reported the Hindu. Kusum Kisan Babar, who lives in Gorai’s Babar Pada tribal hamlet, expressed her concerns, “There is the constant fear of losing the land my ancestors left us.”
The construction of the museum has commenced with the erection of a boundary wall. This has already led to the demolition of several homes in the tribal hamlet.
The community says the lands allocated to the project have been with them for generations and their livelihood depends on it. They have no objections to the museum but are against it being built on their lands. Furthermore, the community is against all kinds of urban projects being proposed and built to bring tourists at the cost of the tribals.
The establishment of the museum will impact six tribal settlements, namely Babar Pada (3 acres), Jamazad Pada (6 acres), Mothadongari Pada (5 acres), Chotadongari Pada, Birsa Munda Pada, and Borkhal Pada, each comprising 3-4 acres.
During a meeting in January 2023, the hamlet was declared a “gaothan,” a region protected by the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, prohibiting any development without the consent of its residents. Despite this declaration, the status is not updated in the land records.
Rajendra Bhosale, Mumbai Suburban Collector, stated, “Tribal communities engaged in agriculture on authorised land will not face displacement or adverse effects from such projects.” According to him, even if a part of the land is affected by the project, the affected party will be safely rehabilitated.
Not the first time the government has tried to take tribal lands
In 2011, the Bombay High Court dismissed MTDC’s tourism proposal to build hotels and resorts in Gorai and Manori villages, citing their ecological sensitivity. Gayatri Singh, a senior advocate at Bombay HC who had filed a public interest litigation at the time, mentioned that the court had prohibited construction.
Currently, the Warli tribe and fisherfolk are in the process of filing an interim application against the ongoing project, she added.
Mumbai has 222 padas (tribal hamlets) of which eight are in Gorai. The rest are scattered across portions of the Aarey forest, Film City, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Madh Island, and along the north and western coast.
In recent years the tribal communities of Mumbai have had to engage in long legal battles and protests against the government’s urban development plans. In 2019, the tribal people of Aarey Forest came together to protest against the relocation of the Metro car shed on their lands.
Like always the tribal community is prepared to fight, they have previously protested for their rights and are prepared to stage protests once again to protect the forest threatened by the museum project, said residents of Chotadongari Pada. They believe that the city has encroached upon their hamlets and the government is attempting to construct buildings under the pretext of honouring Shivaji by encroaching on their land unlawfully.