Bhil tribal families allege sugar institute in Pune trying to demolish their homes

Bapurao Dadas, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, said, “I appeared before the NCST and submitted our inquiry report… This is a civil dispute pending before a court. The police will follow the directions of the court.”

Subhash Baban Gaikwad, 65, who belongs to the Bhil tribe, said, “We are a few Bhil families residing for many generations on a small piece of government land alongside the Mula Mutha river in Naigaon village near the temple of Theur in Haveli taluka of Pune district. Fishing is our main occupation. Some of us also work as farm labourers to earn extra income.”

“One afternoon in July 2024, all of a sudden, without any official notice or intimation, some persons constructing the compound wall of VSI came with heavy machines and tried to demolish our houses. We objected, but they asked us to vacate the land forever. We stopped them as we have been residing for several years. We have our Aadhaar cards on this address,” said Gaikwad.

With help of advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, who owns a house near the Bhil settlement in Naigaon, the Bhils filed a civil suit in a Pune court and submitted a complaint to the NCST against the VSI for allegedly trying to demolish their houses and displace them.

Tehsildar’s report claims that Bhil community has made a false complaint. (Express photo: Chandan Haygunde)

A civil court passed an order granting status quo on July 8, 2024. The order stated that the Bhils have “produced on record photographs of the suit property amongst other documents. They have also reported the matter to the police. The document produced on record shows that there is substance in their apprehension. There exists fear that plaintiffs will be dispossessed and become homeless if no interference is made at this stage. It is necessary to preserve the nature of the suit property as of today. Therefore, it will be necessary to grant the status quo…”.

The next hearing in the civil court is on February 27.

Meanwhile, the NSCT initiated a probe into this case and issued a notice to the Pune district collector and Pune police on October 8, 2024, seeking a report from them in this matter. On October 30, officials of the Uruli Kanchan police station in Pune Rural police limits recorded the statement of a complainant Rabha Sakharam Pawar, 69, of the Bhil tribe. Pawar told the police that he and his family have been residing in Naigaon since his forefathers, but still the VSI officials asked them to leave the place.

When The Indian Express visited the Bhil settlement in Naigaon, it was observed that about 80 people from Bhil families, comprising senior citizens, women and children, live in poor conditions in about 13 hutments, having no electricity connection and other basic facilities.

When contacted, Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi shared the report submitted by Tehsildar Trupti Kolte Patil to the NSCT on January 3, 2025. It stated that the government has provided facilities like water tank, a temple to the Bhils, but the complainant Gaikwad and the others left the main Bhil settlement and encroached on the VSI land.

Tehsildar’s report also claims that Bhil community has made a false complaint that VSI officials threatened and tried to displace them, so that they can continue with the encroachment. The report says that a VSI officer filed a police complaint on December 12, 2024, against the Bhils for allegedly obstructing the institute’s work. The report mentions that the government is sensitive towards the Bhils and attempts are on to rehabilitate them on alternative land.

The Bhils, meanwhile, said their complaint is genuine. Pointing at a house located near a partially constructed compound wall of VSI, Bhil woman Sushila Gaikwad said, “If we had not objected, they would have simply demolished our homes and left us displaced.”

They also showed a copy of a resolution passed by the Naigaon gram panchayat on January 31, 2023, to provide caste certificates to the Bhils residing on the river side in the village for the last 60 years.

This resolution, which they have also submitted in the court, mentions that due to lack of education, the Bhils could not register themselves in the village records in the past, due to which they are finding it difficult to get caste certificates. The resolution says that they should be given caste certificates so they can avail educational and other facilities under government schemes.

A complainant Rabha Pawar, whose name is mentioned in the gram panchayat resolution, showed his voting card, mentioning his residential address as Naigaon in Haveli. Pawar said, “Nobody tried to displace us in the past. We have been living peacefully here even before the land was given on lease to the sugar institute. We fail to understand why VSI, which has possession of huge land, now wants to throw us away. Government officials are frequently visiting us. They want to rehabilitate us on some other land. But this alternate place is not suitable as here we would lose our traditional livelihood by fishing.”

Advocate Kolhatkar said, “As per the documents submitted by VSI in the court, it got government land on a 99-year lease on May 30, 1977. This shows that VSI is not the owner of this government land. Still, the VSI’s name is mentioned on the 7/12 extract of this land, which is suspicious. Also, VSI has no legal powers to displace anybody residing on this land.”

The Bhils submitted an application along with videos to the court recently. (Express photo: Chandan Haygunde)

“While it is said that Gat number 8 in Naigaon village, where the Bhils reside, is a government grazing land, there are documents showing it as a forest land. As per the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the tribals residing on forest land for more than three generations prior to December 13, 2005, cannot be displaced illegally. We are raising these points before the court and hope to get justice,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Bhils submitted an application along with videos to the court recently through a lawyer H H Patole, claiming that despite a “status quo” order, the VSI allegedly continued the construction of the compound wall in a manner that could cause damages to them.

Sambhaji Kadu Patil, a retired IAS officer and director general of VSI said, “We are not displacing anyone. We have no rights to do so. We have a huge sugarcane plantation in VSI. We carry out important research activities. We are building a compound wall to secure the premises. We have requested the government to clear the encroachments and rehabilitate the Bhil families properly.”

When contacted, NSCT officer H R Meena said that an inquiry is on in the matter.