Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
3,000 fishing boats to participate in JNPT agitation on Feb 26
FISHING BOATS FROM MUMBAI, MUMBAI SUBURBAN, THANE, RAIGAD AND SINDHUDURG WILL JOIN AGITATION
NAVI MUMBAI: As many as 3,000 fishing boats from five coastal districts of Maharashtra will drop their anchor off JNPT on February 26, blocking all ship movements to the JNPT port in support of the families displaced by acquisition of Sheva village 35 years ago.
The fishing community earlier planned an indefinite JNPT Channel Bandh agitation from Thursday, but they put it off to February 26 at the request of the senior police officials, said Suresh Damodar Koli, head of Hanjuman Koliwada Village Reforms Committee.
Fishing boats from Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Raigad and Sindhudurg will join the agitation, Koli said.
The 256 families displaced from Sheva have been confined to a transit camp at Hanuman Koliwada since April 1986 and their numbers have grown to about 600 families now.
The Hanuman Koliwada transit camp families were to be resettled on a fully-developed land of 17 hectares as per decisions taken by the then Shipping and Ports Minister Nitin Gadkari and the Chief Minister.
PWD even prepared a ₹6.2Cr plan for the basic amenities. On
November 24, 2020, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar ordered JNPT to implement the resettlement plan.
“Our only demand is to implement the promises made to resettle us as per government norms. The state government has given 1,895 hectare of free land to JNPT. Of this, ₹6.20Cr has been allocated for 17 hectare land for development. That land should be given to the village,” Koli said announcing the strike.
The Village Development Committee has recently written to the CM highlighting the people’s plight and the CMO cell at Konkan Bhavan asked JNPT Chairman to address the issue.
Despite repeated attempts, JNPT officials did not respond. Manisha Jadhav, manager, Personal and Industrial Relations for JNPT, said that they will only reply to emails. However, there was no reply to the email
sent till the time of going to press.