Clara Lewis and Nishikant KarlekarMumbai: Since Friday last week, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has been putting up boards around 100 acres currently in possession of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), declaring that the land has been reserved for a park.The TMC action follows a stay on the Feb 2026 order of the Bombay high court by the Supreme Court. The HC judgment had stated that 217 acres of land in Manpada, Thane, could not be dubbed as private forest and dismissed the state govt’s challenge to a Maharashtra revenue tribunal order of 2017 that set aside the acquisition of the land by the state govt.The high court held that no actual notice had been served on the landowner, D Dahyabhai and Co Pvt Ltd, before acquiring the land as private forest as mandated, and hence the state’s plea failed. The dispute originated 50 years ago. The court directed the TMC to grant Dahyabhai development rights and transfer of development rights (TDR) in 21 days against 100 acres reserved for a park. This would have cost the corporation Rs 2,800 crore. The corporation challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court through a special leave petition. The apex court stayed the order in April.Meanwhile, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) authorities wrote to the state govt and later sent reminders requesting the govt to file a review petition and then a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. The last date for filing a petition in the Supreme Court is May 20. The govt is yet to take a decision, sources said.Following the stay from the Supreme Court, the corporation amidst heavy police bandobast has begun putting up boards to secure the land.Prashant Kadam, DCP, Zone-5, Thane city police, said the demarcation process for the land is currently underway. “As a precautionary measure, to avoid any potential law and order issues, a police bandobast has been actively deployed in the area. The restricted zone will be opened to the public once the physical demarcation is completed and the concerned authorities have received all the requisite legal documents,” he said.However, TMC commissioner Saurabh Rao denied putting any restrictions on the movement of residents to the area. “We have not set up any boards declaring that the area is private property, as has been claimed, nor have we restricted access to the residents,” he clarified.-Inputs by Manoj Badgeri
