JNPA seeks to revoke order prohibiting port work in ESZ
MUMBAI : The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), responsible for administering the Centre’s Wadhavan Port project, has sought to rescind a September 1998 order of the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA), prohibiting the construction of a major port within the predominantly tribal Dahanu ecosensitive zone (ESZ).
On May 12 this year, the JNPA submitted an application to this effect before the newlyreconstituted DTEPA.
In addition to modification of the 1998 order, the JNPA has separately sought the Authority’s no-objection certificate for the port project, which is one of the compliances mandated by the MoEFCC.
A third application has also been made, asking that the MoEFCC be made a party to the matter before the DTEPA, which is expected to rule on the JNPA’s application on June 23.
Vishwanath Gharat, general manager of port planning at JNPA, confirmed that these applications have indeed been submitted, but declined to comment further, saying he cannot speak on the matter.
However, a senior official at JNPA said under conditions of anonymity, “The port is of immense strategic importance to India’s logistics sector. Our port at Nhava is getting saturated. In order to compete with other countries that have heavily invested in ports, including China, Korea, UAE and Singapore, we need to expand. We
are awaiting the DTEPA’s decision.”Despite widespread opposition to the project by local communities, who fear displacement and loss of customary livelihoods as experienced by indigenous communities in Raigad’s Uran taluka (where JNPA operates India’s largest cargo port at Nhava Sheva), the Union environment ministry in October 2020 granted the project terms of reference (ToR). “The DTEPA has been appointed by the MoEFCC, and they have opposed the project multiple times. Now, after the chairperson’s death, the MoEFCC has been facilitating backdoor attempts at pushing the plans forward,” said Debi Goenka, invitee of the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority.
The port is of immense strategic importance to India’s logistics sector. Our port at Nhava is getting saturated
SENIOR OFFICIAL,