Warli tribe in Gorai object the construction of Shivaji museum

Tribal community in Gorai, Mumbai fear displacement due to urban construction projects.

The tribal community living in Gorai suburbs of Mumbai fear they will lose their homes and forests to urban construction projects. On June 5, 2023, the Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra had announced to construct Chhatrapati Shivaji War Art Museum in a total of 136 acres of land in Gorai with a budget of ₹50 crores. The State Tourism Minister, Mangal Prabhat Lodha had said that he will personally oversee the construction and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will spearhead the project.

As we enter Babar Pada in Gorai, a hamlet of 900 Warli tribe, we see warli art on every home, compound walls and trees, painted in orange as base and over it, warli art is drawn in white. There is also a tall gate built at the entrance with a small board of the history of the tribes living here. This beautification work was carried out by MTDC two years ago.

The tribal communities living in this area for time immemorial, say the huge piece of land sanctioned for museum, is their land that they have been dependent on for generations. Recently, around 6,000 tribal individuals from across Mumbai had gathered at Babar Pada, to mark Tribal Community Festival 2023 to celebrate their traditions and discuss the existence crisis they are facing.

Sanjiv Valsan, Director, Waghoba Habitat Foundation, an NGO documenting and conserving Traditional Ecocultural practices among Mumbai’s indigenous people said the purpose of organising the festival was to draw attention on the existence of the indigenous people. “Urban population who feel cheerful hearing urban development projects led out by MTDC or the coastal projects, must know that it will cost people’s lives who will become homeless. In fact, the tribals are the original Mumbaikars who have been preserving the forest and living a sustainable life.”

The museum will affect six tribal hamlets, Babar Pada, Jamazad Pada, Borkhal Pada, Mothadongari Pada, Chotadongari Pada and Birsamunda Pada. Babar Pada has a 3-acre land, Jamazad Pada has around 6 acre land, Mothadongari Pada has 5 acre land and rest has around 3 - 4 acre land.

50-year-old Kusum Kisan Babar breaks down narrating the times she has been threatened to be removed from her own home in Babar Pada. She grow vegetables and catches crabs to sell them in Borivali market. Since the museum project was announced, there has been several visits by MTDC staff along with police personnel to the hamlet who claim to only conduct survey of the hamlet but in the last three months, she has been threatened to vacate her home, she said, “I feel extremely insecure as there is constant fear of losing something my ancestors left with us. If someone razes down our home, I don’t think anybody can save us. Last month, a woman official along with two male officials visited our hamlet and asked me to vacate the government land. I told her I have tribal certificate too, she said, it doesn’t matter,” said Ms. Kusum who has three daughters and three sons, all engaged in farming and fishing.

Mumbai has 222 adivasi padas (tribal hamlets) of which 8 are in Gorai. Rest are scattered in portions of Aarey forest, Film City, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Madh Island and north and western coast.