Mumbai: Instead of relocating slums from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) forest land, Mumbai suburban MLAs want the land to be declared as non-forest.On Friday, BJP MLC and group leader in the state legislative council, Pravin Darekar, moved a resolution that residents of Ketkipada in Dahisar and all other surrounding areas right up to Dindoshi on forest land must not be evicted. The motion was seconded by BJP MLA from Borivali, Sanjay Upadhyay, and passed unanimously at the district planning committee meeting held at Bandra.It is estimated there are 80,000 slum households residing on forest land in this stretch. Besides, there are slums in Bhandup and Mulund as well. The state govt has identified 10 parcels of land in Thane district for the relocation of all slum dwellers on forest land.Any decision to shift the residents to Thane would have repercussions on at least 15-20 BMC electoral wards, said sources, and hence the resolution. The BMC elections are likely to be held later this year.The resolution will now be submitted to the state govt and asked to present it before Bombay High Court, which is hearing a petition filed by Conservation Action Trust highlighting successive govts’ failure to relocate slums on forest land despite a 1997 court order.Recently, the court granted six weeks to the state forest dept to hold a hearing and scrutinise documents of Ketkipada to decide their eligibility for free housing. Former BJP ex-MP from Mumbai North, Gopal Shetty, has suggested the residents be rehabilitated on a 10-acre BMC plot at Kandarpada in Dahisar earmarked for PAP projects instead of being shifted to Thane district.Mumbai suburban district guardian minister, Ashish Shelar, said housing is a constitutional right and relocating 80,000 households would be a very difficult task.“Ketkipada is settled on private land. In the ’70s, the forest dept acquired the private land, but even at that time, there were some families residing on the land. Recently, land from Aarey Colony was included in SGNP, and this land where people are settled for decades is already deforested. The land can be removed from the forest legally. It would be best to carry out redevelopment on the site and rehabilitate them. If any open land is created, it can be handed over to the forest dept,” said Shelar.Darekar too recommended that the residents be rehabilitated in-situ and not be relocated elsewhere.Officials said if the courts were willing to consider the proposal, then it may forward the matter to the Centre to take a final decision. Mumbai: Instead of relocating slums from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) forest land, Mumbai suburban MLAs want the land to be declared as non-forest.On Friday, BJP MLC and group leader in the state legislative council, Pravin Darekar, moved a resolution that residents of Ketkipada in Dahisar and all other surrounding areas right up to Dindoshi on forest land must not be evicted. The motion was seconded by BJP MLA from Borivali, Sanjay Upadhyay, and passed unanimously at the district planning committee meeting held at Bandra.It is estimated there are 80,000 slum households residing on forest land in this stretch. Besides, there are slums in Bhandup and Mulund as well. The state govt has identified 10 parcels of land in Thane district for the relocation of all slum dwellers on forest land.Any decision to shift the residents to Thane would have repercussions on at least 15-20 BMC electoral wards, said sources, and hence the resolution. The BMC elections are likely to be held later this year.The resolution will now be submitted to the state govt and asked to present it before Bombay High Court, which is hearing a petition filed by Conservation Action Trust highlighting successive govts’ failure to relocate slums on forest land despite a 1997 court order.Recently, the court granted six weeks to the state forest dept to hold a hearing and scrutinise documents of Ketkipada to decide their eligibility for free housing. Former BJP ex-MP from Mumbai North, Gopal Shetty, has suggested the residents be rehabilitated on a 10-acre BMC plot at Kandarpada in Dahisar earmarked for PAP projects instead of being shifted to Thane district.Mumbai suburban district guardian minister, Ashish Shelar, said housing is a constitutional right and relocating 80,000 households would be a very difficult task.“Ketkipada is settled on private land. In the ’70s, the forest dept acquired the private land, but even at that time, there were some families residing on the land. Recently, land from Aarey Colony was included in SGNP, and this land where people are settled for decades is already deforested. The land can be removed from the forest legally. It would be best to carry out redevelopment on the site and rehabilitate them. If any open land is created, it can be handed over to the forest dept,” said Shelar.Darekar too recommended that the residents be rehabilitated in-situ and not be relocated elsewhere.Officials said if the courts were willing to consider the proposal, then it may forward the matter to the Centre to take a final decision.