Public hearing held under collector for proposed mega Vadhavan port in Palghar

Palghar, Jan 19 (PTI) A public hearing for people to air their grievances and give suggestions for the upcoming mega Vadhavan port in Palghar district in Maharashtra was held on Friday, an official said.

The hearing, which lasted for more than five hours, was held under the leadership of Collector Govind Bodke and was attended by citizens as well as officials of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, he said.

Outfits like the Bandar Anti Sangharsh Committee, Fishermen Association as well as MLAs Vinod Nikole and Sunil Bhusara and Shiv Sena leaders Jyoti Mehr and Kundan Sankhe took part, the official added.

"Over 2,500 police and other staffers were deployed at the site of the hearing to maintain law and order. Several issues were raised, with some suggestions and objections coming in via e-mails and letters. All of these will be documented in the minutes of the meeting and will be submitted to the state environment department," he said.

He said among the issues discussed were "faulty translation" into Marathi of the technical report that was provided to citizens, concerns related to livelihood of fishermen and the affect on it by the port etc.

The Vadhavan port is being developed by the JNPT and the Maharashtra Maritime Board. It received in-principle approval from the Union government on February 13, 2020, while the terms of reference (ToR) was approved on October 7 that year, the official said.

The port, with an estimated construction cost of Rs 76,220 crore, was approved by the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA) on July 31, 2023. PTI COR BNM BNM