Thousands gather in hearing to oppose JSW Murbe port, highlight risk to fishing

Among the crowd were women from Murbe, Satpati, Nandgaon, Navapur and the coastal villages, who highlighted the damage that such a project could cause to fishing and fishing related occupations

PALGHAR: Over seven thousand villagers gathered at a public hearing held at Palghar on Monday and expressed their strong opposition to the proposed JSW Murbe port. Many of the protestors raised their concerns about the environmental and social implications of such a project.

Among the crowd were women from Murbe, Satpati, Nandgaon, Navapur and the coastal villages, who highlighted the damage that such a project could cause to fishing and fishing related occupations. (HT PHOTO)

The public hearing was held to discuss the all-weather multi-cargo greenfield deep-water port at Murbe being constructed by a private port operator, JSW Infrastructure. The operator had received a letter of intent from the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) for the development, operation, management, and maintenance of the proposed port in October last year.

The proposed port with a construction cost of ₹19,960 crore, is expected to handle a cargo of 134.07 metric tons per annum (MTPA). With a depth of 18.5m, the port will enable big ships to easily navigate its waters. As per JSW Infrastructure, the port will be constructed between Satpati and Ucheli creek in Palghar taluka, and nearly 1065 acres of land will be reclaimed and developed around the port to build facilities for containers that will dock there.

The private operator has proposed developing another 280 acres of land outside the port premises to store cargo. In addition, 190 acres will be used to lay out rails, roads, pipelines and other facilities connecting to the port. JSW Infrastructure plans to dredge nearly 37 million cubic metres of sand to build the port, of which 31 million cubic metres will be used to reclaim the shallow waterfront in Palghar.

To discuss the matter, Monday’s public hearing began at 11:15 am and lasted around six hours. In the meeting, 103 people were allowed to express their concerns, despite over 8,000 written suggestions and objections, which had been submitted during the hearing.

Among the crowd were women from Murbe, Satpati, Nandgaon, Navapur and the coastal villages, who highlighted the damage that such a project could cause to fishing and fishing related occupations. Protestors also raised concerns about the safety of the Tarapur Atomic Power Plant and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Plant, which are in the area. People also pointed out that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Murbe port had been conducted and finalised without considering the impact of the project on nearby villages like Satpati and Dandi.

Among the officials present at the hearing were district collector Dr Indu Rani Jakhar, superintendent of police, Palghar, Yatish Deshmukh, officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and representatives of JSW Infrastructure. However, the elected representatives of the area stayed away from the public hearing, though some political leaders, social organisations, and fishing cooperative societies expressed their concerns during the meeting.