India, Dec. 15 -- Days after announcing a policy to rehabilitate tribals and slum dwellers living in the core and buffer areas of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the Maharashtra government incorporated a new regulation, 34 (3.5)(ix), in the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR), 2034, allowing rehabilitation in the five-km No Development Zone (NDZ) of the park. Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde had stated on Thursday that the government had identified a 93-acre land parcel for this.

With this move, NDZ land has been opened up for the first time for rehabilitation; officials said that this paved the way for using NDZ land for other rehab projects in the city. So far, NDZ land was allowed to be used only for Inform...