A key panel attached to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that scrutinises projects has recommended environmental and coastal regulation zone clearance for the construction of a mega port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, clearing the decks for the Union Cabinet to grant investment approval and begin work overcoming strident opposition from locals and fishermen.
The Expert Appraisal Committee has recommended environmental and coastal regulation zone clearance for the project during a 6 February meeting, per documents seen by ET Infra.
Unmesh Wagh, Deputy Chairman and Chairman In-Charge of state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) that is helming the Rs76,220 crore project in partnership with the Maharashtra Maritime Board confirmed the green nod recommended by EAC.
“We are grateful to the EAC for recommending environmental and CRZ clearance to the project and we as the project proponent will abide by all the conditions set by the EAC taking into consideration the livelihood and other aspects of the local people,” Wagh told ET Infra, noting that “Vadhavan will be a world class port”.
The EAC recommendation will have to be signed off by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which is a formality.
The plan to set up a port at Vadhavan has been opposed by locals, farmers, and fishermen.
To dilute the opposition, JNPA shifted the location of the new port to 4-6 kms inside the sea from the previous onshore site, to address concerns over the ecologically fragile area, environmental damage and pollution in Dahanu taluka. The shift will also eliminate the need for massive land acquisition for the project.
Land acquisition will now be limited to 571 hectares for rail and road connectivity to the port.
The last mile rail and road links to the new port will be funded by the Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), respectively.
The new offshore site, though, will require large-scale reclamation for which material will be sourced from sand borrow pits off the coast of Daman some 50 kms away.
The marine sand to be used for reclamation will be dredged using a trailing suction hopper dredger and the sand will be transported and dumped at the reclamation site. On 21 December 2023, the Ministry of Mines issued an order for reservation of the site for dredging.
JNPA has assured that the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) benefits will be extended to all the Project Affected Families (PAF) whether belonging to below poverty line (BPL) or non-BPL.
The EAC has asked JNPA to prepare a time-bound Livelihood Opportunities Plan (LOP) for locals based on socio-economic studies. JNPA also said it will prepare a Fisher-folks Compensation Policy (FCP) for the project in consultation with stakeholders and fishermen community and a Fisher-folks Compensation Committee (FCC) will be set up with Deputy Chairman, JNPA as the Chairman, and members from fishing community, Department of Fisheries, Revenue, MMB, Police and fisheries scientists as members.
