Eviction fears force day-long shutdown at Sassoon Dock

The fishing community has been locked in battle with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) for more than a decade as the MbPA has been attempting to claim dues worth ₹115 crore. The community, however, fears that the port authority wants to altogether evict them and reclaim the warehouses

MUMBAI: Sassoon Dock, one of the city’s most vital hubs for the fishing industry, came to a grinding halt on Tuesday, amid mounting fears of eviction. The fishing community, which uses the warehouses at the dock as fish processing centres, halted operations and also refused to send their trawlers out to sea.

Eviction fears force day-long shutdown at Sassoon Dock

The fishing community has been locked in battle with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) for more than a decade as the MbPA has been attempting to claim dues worth ₹115 crore. The community, however, fears that the port authority wants to altogether evict them and reclaim the warehouses.

Krishna Pawle, president of the Shiv Bharatiya Port Sena, said, “We have learnt that a letter has been given by MbPA to the state fisheries department and has sought police protection to proceed with the eviction action. We have shut operations at the dock in protest.”

Pawle said any eviction by the MbPA would contradict assurances made by the state government that it would help arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. “We are on tenterhooks, not knowing what will happen next. Through our protest, we want to send out the message that if a solution is not reached, we will go on indefinite strike.”

The port authority’s primary objective is recovery of dues worth ₹115 crore pending from the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC), which has leased the warehouses from MbPA and sub-let them to the fishing community.

A senior MbPA official said the dues have been pending for more than two decades. “MbPA is only implementing a 2014 Supreme Court order, which directed that the godowns be vacated and returned to the port authority. The port authority is not independently initiating any eviction,” he said.

Nitesh Rane, minister for ports development, acknowledged the complexity of the issue, but stressed that it resulted from the apex court’s order. “This is the order given by the Supreme Court in 2014, and the court has given certain instructions to the central government and the Mumbai Port Authority. We have tried speaking to MbPA to resolve this amicably,” said Rane.

He added that local MLA Rahul Narwekar is involved in managing the situation on the ground. “We are following instructions given by MLA Rahul Narwekar as it is his constituency. Based on his assurance, the police and MbPA refrained from acting on an eviction notice on September 10.”

Narwekar confirmed that efforts are underway to break the deadlock. “We have requested MbPA, MFDC and the state government to hold a joint meeting to resolve the problem. But we don’t want to, at any cost, offend the Supreme Court orders and don’t want to invite contempt of court,” he told HT.

“So keeping in mind the court order, I have requested all three to work out a solution for the betterment of the fishing industry and for the poor labourers,” Narwekar said.