MUMBAI: Around 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) will be reclaimed from the sea for the Vadhavan port, which will be India's first foreshore port, said Anil Diggikar, chairman,
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
(JNPT). It is proposed 140 km north of Mumbai in Dahanu taluka of Palghar district.
The JNPT has a 74% equity stake in the port. The other 26% is held by the
Maharashtra Maritime Board
. The Maharashtra government in November last year wrote to the ministry of environment and forests and climate change (MoEFCC) to exclude the proposed port from the Dahanu eco-sensitive zone as it is a foreshore facility , said officials.The stakeholders have also said it should not be categorized as an industry.
“Around 500 acres is only being acquired to build road and rail connectivity to and from the port. The local populace is in favour of the port as there is no development in the area on account of the 1991 eco-sensitive zone notification,“ he said.
Once it is excluded from the eco-sensitive zone, JNPT will apply to the MoEFCC for environment clearance, said officials. A total of 5,000 acres are to be reclaimed for the Vadhavan port. The environment impact assessment will be done only after the MoEFCC issues the terms of reference, said the official. The detailed project report is being prepared by a joint venture between an Indian and Spanish firm and will be ready by July this year.
Neeraj Bansal, deputy chairman, JNPT, said the project will be completed in two phases and is estimated to cost Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. The port, he said, is being developed as a satellite port to JNPT. “Mumbai port will eventually handle non-polluting cargo, JNPT handles container cargo, and the Vadhavan port will be for general cargo,“ he said.
On the advantages of the proposed Vadhavan port, Bansal said it has a natural draft of 20 meters. A deeper draft would allow larger bulk carriers to come closer to the port com pared to those which call at JNPT and Mumbai ports, which have an average draft of 14-15 meters. It is also close to the
Western Railway, has access to national highway number 8 and will be linked to the Dedicated Freight Corridor.
If all goes according to plan, the phase I handling 25 million tonnes will be commissioned by 2025. The entire project will be completed over five phases and is estimated to cost Rs30,000 crore. The reclamation will happen over five phases. For phase 1, JNPT will in vest Rs3,500 crore to build the breakwater and yard. The other phases will be completed through public-private partnership, and a private operator will be appointed to run operations, and JNPT will collect royalty, said Diggikar.
The fishing community is, however, strongly opposed to the proposed port. “Vadhavan is a golden zone for fishing, and around 2,000 boats come here daily for fishing. It supports 20,000 families,“ said
Narayan Patil, founder of the Vadhavan Bunder Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti.
Patil said the Dahanu ecosensitive zone is one of eight in the country and created on the orders of the Supreme Court.“On March 4, union environment minister Anil Dave informed the Lok Sabha that to remove the ESZ tag, the government will need to go to the
Supreme Court,“ he said.
The fishermen have already begun holding protest marches and demonstrations in Palghar district. They have now written to the Dahanu Environment Protection Authority against the proposed port.
“They say they are not acquiring our lands. But by reclaiming the sea they will devastate our lives,“ said Jyoti Meher, member of the Maharashtra Machchimar Sangharsh Samiti. Further, on account of reclamation, the displaced sea-water will destroy several more villages along the coast, she said. An attempt to build a port here in 1998 was scrapped after opposition from the fishing community.
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