India, Feb. 16 -- The long-running battle over rehabilitation inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) has intensified after the park authorities identified 16,478 families as eligible for housing under its latest survey, even as sections of the adivasi community accused officials of harassment and deliberate attempts to "confuse" residents.

The survey, conducted by M/s Grant Thornton Bharat LLP between January 2025 and early February, is the fifth such exercise to enumerate families living within the protected forest. According to officials, the exercise was aimed at identifying residents who can prove they were living inside the park prior to January 1, 1995, the cut-off date for rehabilitation eligibility.

Kiran Patil, deputy direct...