Reclamation work to build offshore Vadhvan port in Maharashtra’s Palghar district will commence next year, announced Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) the body entrusted to construct it, allaying the fears and opposition that the project is faced with from the locals for close to three decades.
The Union cabinet cleared development of Vadhvan Port project, an all-weather Greenfield deep draft major port, estimated to cost ₹76,220 crore, on Wednesday. Touted as top 10 ports in the world when completed, it will have the handling capacity of 23.2 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). The TEU is a unit of cargo capacity for ports and shipping.
“The tender documents are ready with us and will be floated soon. We were awaiting the Union cabinet’s approval,” Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Chairman, JNPA said while explaining the criticality of the project. An EXIM (Export-Import) port is required on India’s western coast as the major ports of Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Mundra Port will reach their container handling capacity limit in the future.
“Once the project is commissioned, the cargo traffic coming from North India will get diverted to Vadhvan Port, thereby freeing up Jawaharlal Nehru Port to handle traffic coming from within Maharashtra and other states,” Mr. Wagh added.
The project will come up 50 kms south of Maharashtra – Gujarat state border. The first phase to handle 15 million TEUs has an outlay of ₹21,343 crore and is scheduled for completion in December 2029. The Union government has initiated acquiring up to 571 hectares of land acquisition to construct a road up to the proposed offshore port, work on which will commence post this monsoon. After a year, reclamation work is scheduled to take off in an attempt to make it one of the most efficient ports globally.
“Almost all objections, concerns and misinformation pertaining to the project have been addressed including having a refinery, land acquisition, flooding of the area, damage to the Shankodhar shrine and livelihood of those directly and indirectly involved in fishing activity. Those affected by loss of livelihood, we are ready for a dialogue with the fishing community to provide the more than required compensation,” Mr. Wagh said.
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences has been entrusted with the mandate to survey the fishing community in Palghar district and submit its report in the next four months.
The project was put on the back burner when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government in Maharashtra back in 1995-99.
Port officials have faced a series of agitations against the project over concerns related to land acquisition and environmental pollution. JNPA claims that they will not be acquiring any land for the project, but the privately owned ancillary businesses dependent on shipping will certainly do.
“Earlier people never allowed us to enter the area. Now, the villagers invite us to discuss the project’s various components. This turnaround has happened in the last four years,” claimed JNPA’s chairman.
Published - June 21, 2024 02:34 am IST
