Vadhvan Port: Ministry Holds Public Hearing After Residents Raise Concerns On Construction

Palghar: Days after the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) granted approval for the development of a mega port at Vadhvan, the Environment Advisory Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) conducted a hearing on the issue. The hearing was conducted after local residents, most of them belonging to the fishermen community, raised concerns on the construction.

Stating that the hearing on January 19, 2024 was held in a completely wrong manner, the villagers alleged officials had brought in outsiders as supporters of the project. The villagers demanded that they would not speak until they left and even then, the authorities did nothing. Later, the villagers drove them out themselves.

Villagers Voice Their Concerns

The villagers said that despite being original inhabitants of the area they were not given sufficient time to speak and demanded that another hearing be held in an impartial and transparent manner. The authorities, however, refuted all the claims and rejected another hearing in the matter.

However, the EAC of MoEF&CC conducted a hearing. “We are awaiting the recommendations, if any, from the ministry. We will have to adhere to the same and proceed further,” a senior official from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) said, not wishing to be named. Sources said that a fresh hearing signals the go-ahead for the project, which is set to be undertaken by the Maharashtra Maritime Board.

The JNPA has identified a sand borrow pit at around 50-60km in the Arabian Sea from the proposed port and about 50km from Daman coast to obtain 200 million CuM sand by dredging to create land at the proposed site. It had signed a memorandum of understanding worth Rs20,000 crore with global logistics operator DP World at the Global Maritime India Summit in Mumbai.