Maharashtra govt ‘diverts’ 460 hectares of tribal land near Mumbai for industries

Despite opposition from the locals, the Maharashtra government has diverted 460 hectares of tribal land in Palghar for industrial activity. The land, now set aside for the development of industries, is a part of the 2,766 hectares it had acquired from tribal families in the early 1960s for a dairy project for supplying milk to Mumbai. But as the project never took off, most of the land has remained unutilised.

While the tribal families belonging to hamlets in Palghar’s Dahanu and Talasari talukas, whose lands were acquired, have been opposing industrialisation of the lands, the state’s Dairies Development department, which is in possession of the land, issued orders on November 24, notifying that 460-hectare land was now being handed over to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. “The development of industries in the (tribal district) of Palghar will benefit the local population and result in all-round growth of the region,” states the government resolution, signed by Ashok Uike, deputy secretary (Dairy Development).

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Courtesy: The New Indian Express