Dahanu Authority clears path for Vadhavan Port

India's largest deep draft port, off Vadhavan Beach, has been cleared for construction by the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority. The move has drawn criticism from environmentalists and locals who argue it violates the region's eco-sensitive zone and lacks legal precedence. The port is seen as essential after 2028 to prevent price gouging by the nearby Mundra port.

Mumbai: The Supreme Court-appointed Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA) has cleared the way for construction of India’s largest deep draft port, off Vadhavan Beach in the eco-sensitive Dahanu taluka in Palghar district.

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The quasi-judicial DTEPA has reversed its 1998 ruling, which deemed the project “wholly impermissible and illegal”.

The Authority, which has been under new chairmanship since May 2022, passed a final order on Monday, July 31, permitting the Jawaharalal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) to approach the Union environment ministry for environment clearance (EC). The MoEFCC had in-principle approved the port by giving terms of reference (ToR) to the JNPA in October 2020.

Environmentalists and locals on the other hand maintain this has been done without any legal precedence.

Bhushan Bhoir, a Palghar-based marine biologist and organiser with the Vadhavan Vandar Virodhi Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, who in an invitee of the DTEPA, was livid at the order.

“First, the MoEFCC removed the three dissenting members of the authority. Their replacements have only sat for one hearing, and we were not given any indication that it will be the final hearing. Just a week ago, the Vadhavan gram panchayat had passed a unanimous resolution to protect the region as community reserve. We do not want a port. The order of the DTEPA will be challenged,” he said.

The Dahanu eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) was notified in 1991 and its prohibitions on such large-scale development in the region stands unchanged. This stand was later reiterated by the Authority in 2017.

After 1998, the project fell into dormancy, but was revived in 2015 when a special purpose vehicle was set up by the JNPA and the Maharashtra Maritime Board.

Concerns around the project were bolstered in April 2020, when the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) declassified ports, harbours and jetties as “industrial activities”. Two months later, the MoEFCC issued a clarification stating that these activities would be permitted in eco-sensitive areas, including the Dahanu ESZ.

The move drew the ire of locals, eventually leading to a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order in June 2021, staying any further work on the port’s planning and construction. The green court also directed the MoEFCC to form an expert committee to reconsider whether ports and harbours could be permitted as non-industrial activities within ecologically fragile areas. The order has since been challenged in the SC by the National Fishworkers’ Forum, the original applicant in the matter and JNPA.

Once again in May 2022, the Union environment ministry “reclassified” the list of permissible, regulated activities in the Dahanu taluka to allow the construction of ports and harbours.

The DTEPA’s order has drawn the ire of farmers, fishers, adivasis, landowning groups and environmentalists, whose opposition to the project has been growing, parallelly, in recent years.

“The manner in which this clearance has been issued is disgraceful. The DTEPA was expressly set up to protect the environment of Dahanu taluka as per the SC orders, but has done exactly the opposite. The DTEPA has not just violated the SC order, it has violated the provisions of the Dahanu Notification, the recommendation of the NEERI Report, and the sanctioned Regional Plan,” said Debi Goenka, executive trustee, Conservation Action Trust and invitee of the DTEPA, who has been tracking the project for several years.

Welcoming the order, a senior JNPA official said Vadhavan Port will be essential after 2028 to prevent price gouging by the nearby Mundra port. “It is a project of national importance. We have conducted all the studies required for seeking environment clearance and will approach the MoEFCC for the same.”