MUMBAI, Oct. 19 -- Forty-eight hours after the Bombay High Court announced a high-level committee to assist with the removal of encroachers from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), state forest minister Ganesh Naik said encroachers, and tribals, will be relocated to a 90-acre plot at Marol-Maroshi. The plot is in Aarey Colony, in the limits of the urban forest. Naik made the announcement on Saturday, while inaugurating e-vehicle services in the park, at Borivali. The minister's statement came as a surprise as the plot in question was to house only slum-dweller encroachers. The issue of rehabilitating tribals who live in the park has always been a contentious one. The adivasis have resisted relocation attempts, pointing out that the forest is their home, and their lives and livelihoods are intrinsically tied to the park. "While encroachers will be rehabilitated in Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) buildings, tribal residents will be given ground-plus-one storey homes (to be built by Mhada) so that they do not have to compromise their lifestyles and will not be required to move out of the forest," said Naik. Holding out an olive branch, Naik said that even after shifting, the adivasis' livelihoods would not be affected as they will be employed within the forest limits. "They can also work as tourist guides, and in the future, we will make more employment opportunities available for them," he promised. Naik said a meeting will be held soon, to resolve issues concerning both the encroachers as well as the tribal community. The 90-acre plot at Marol-Maroshi is located in a forested area classified as a No-Development Zone inside the Aarey forest. It was to be notified as a 'forest' area. The plot was allotted to house encroachers following litigation initiated by the Samyak Janhit Seva Sanstha, a society of SGNP slum-dwellers, who sought their rehabilitation as per earlier court orders. "The tribals have, time and again, said they don't want to be relocated. Before the government goes ahead with the plan, they should be consulted. Removing them does not serve any purpose since they actually know how to maintain the forest," said Stalin Dayanand, director of Vanashakti, an environmental non-profit....