Panel directs action against IIT-Bombay under SC/ST Act for denying water to tribals

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has ordered the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) not to displace tribals of Bhangshila Pada without due process of law.

In its order on May 26, 2025, it also ordered action to be taken under different sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against people who were obstructing the supply of water and electricity and the tribals' access road.

The battle for land ownership between the institution and the tribals commenced in 2007. In Jan this year, IIT-B, citing a Bombay High Court judgment of Jan 2, 2025, declared the tribals were in illegal and unauthorised occupation of land (Survey No. 22 and CTS No. 67) and claimed IIT-B to be the owner of the land. The notice threatened the tribals withforcible eviction in accordance with law for not vacating.

The tribals, therefore, issued a legal notice to the institution stating that they have been in unbroken possession of the land ever since the British period. Two years back, the Sarpanch of the village, Meena Raote, complained to the Commission that in 2007, after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IIT-B and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the tribals were held as encroachers and were being forcibly removed. Raote asserted that the property card is in her grandfather's name but there is no basic infrastructure. She added that according to a 2013 biometric survey, the tribal families are being termed encroachers.

The Commission, in 2023, instructed the suburban collector of Mumbai to file a report. In its report, the collector noted that 10,000 square meters of land belonging to IIT-B was purchased for the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road widening project. 137 slum residents were found in a survey conducted by NGO SPARC in 2010, and 97 accepted rehabilitation while others, including some tribal families, declined.

The Commission had conducted a hearing in May this year and directed a stay against the eviction of the tribals. In another turn of events, the Kurla Tehsildar instructed the BMC not to seal off the entry road to Bhangshila Pada."The Bhangshila Tribal Pada habitations are old and for their minimum necessities, an ambulance entry, domestic use of gas cylinder, and movement of other daily necessities is required. Therefore, to seal their entry is not appropriate. Thus, they shall be allowed to go in and out by your security," states the letter. IIT-B has been requested by the panel to provide documents proving its land ownership.