A long-pending plan to seal off Sanjay Gandhi National Park with a wall has run into fresh resistance, with tribal residents in the Nagla range halting construction work, exposing a growing faultline between conservation priorities and local access rights.
Even as the forest department accelerates work on a decades-old mandate to protect the park from encroachments, tribals argue that walls restrict traditional movement into forest areas they have long depended on. “In Nagla, we have started work on around 18 km of the wall out of a planned 52 km stretch. Work was stopped by local tribal farmers,” said a forest department official.
Officials insist the project is critical to safeguarding one of Mumbai’s last remaining natural buffers, even as they attempt to negotiate with protesting communities.
Ground resistance
>> Locals are opposed to the wall and watchtowers
>> They access to forest routes is being restricted
>> They fear of losing traditional corridors
Why the wall matters
>> It stops encroachments on protected forest land
>> Prevents unauthorised human entry
>> Reduces human–wildlife conflict
>> Protects biodiversity and habitats
>> Curbs illegal tree cutting and poaching
>> Blocks debris dumping inside forest zones
>> Strengthens patrolling & surveillance
>> Clearly marks forest boundaries
The bigger mandate
1997: Bombay High Court directs boundary wall construction
2026: High-powered committee formed to fast-track execution
Objective: To protect Mumbai’s critical green lung from steady urban pressure
SGNP in numbers
Total park area: 104 sq km
Total length of boundary: 154.6 km
Wall completed so far: 50+ km
Nagla stretch under construction: 18 km
(part of 52 km segment)
