Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) authorities were forced to close the park to visitors following a protest inside by 1,000 locals.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) authorities were forced to close the park to visitors following a protest inside by 1,000 locals. The protest was due to park authorities having arrested a local who had an illegal pipe connection in the park.
Around 6 am on Friday, a local person was arrested by SGNP officials for illegally connecting a pipeline in the park premises. Officials said that Vaibhav Bharadkar, a resident of Kurar village, was illegally using water through the pipeline. SGNP officials released Mr Bharadkar around 5.30 pm.
Around 1,000 people were part of the protest. “We had to close down the park as many of the protestors entered the park and could have posed a threat to visitors,” explained a park official.
Vidya Chavan, an NCP MLC who supported and participated in the protest, alleged, “Officials have not demarcated the forest boundary for which we have proof. Hence, we held a morcha to the park along with nearly 1,000 people. We asked the officials to either release Mr Bharadkar or arrest us all as he had connected the pipeline for everyone’s benefit.”
A park official said, “We have taken action against Mr Bharadkar as he had illegally connected a water pipeline in the forest jurisdiction.”
Vikas Gupta, the chief conservator of forests and field director of SGNP, did not respond to this newspaper.
