Aerial view of Hanuman Koliwada where JNPT project affected people were shifted to Uran, Raigad. | Photo credit: Emmanuel Yogini
Residents of Shewa Koliwada in Uran taluk of Maharashtra’s Raigad district, who have been living in a transit camp for 40 years, have received a verbal nod from a senior central government official to provide them permanent homes soon. In 2024, villagers boycotted the Lok Sabha and the recent Maharashtra assembly elections.
following HinduAccording to a report, ’40 years in transit camps’ (November 17, 2024), Santosh Kumar Rai, Election Commission of India’s (ECI) general observer of Uran Assembly constituency met villagers before the assembly elections and urged them. Elections are held once in five years to vote. Mr. Rai told the residents to present their concerns to the ECI on his return to New Delhi. Raigad District Deputy Collector (Rehabilitation), Bharat Waghmare, also urged the villagers to vote, promising to do their best to resolve their problems.
On December 19, Ramesh Bhaskar Koli, 65, a resident and fisherman, and general secretary of the Maharashtra Small-Scale Traditional Fish Workers Association; Nand Kumar Pawar, president of the association; Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) General Manager and Secretary Manisha Jadhav; And Mr. Waghmare met R. Lakshmanan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, at the Transport Building in New Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police of Raigad district was present in the meeting but there was no representation from their side.
In the meeting, the Joint Secretary verbally approved the proposal submitted by Mr. Waghmare to start construction for the rehabilitation of 256 families on 10 hectares of land in Jashargaon and Fundegaon of Uran Taluk.
“The central authorities have given oral assurances to start construction of houses, rehabilitation works with civic facilities. They said it would take at least three years. We have come to an agreement that at least the work should begin; We will push back the remaining seven hectares. According to the official gazette of the Raigad Collector’s office, 17.28 hectares of land was to be given for rehabilitation, which included 7.14 hectares for residential land and 10.14 hectares for civic amenities,” Mr Koli said.
Earlier, the Displaced Women’s Association of Shewa Koliwada had announced that they would protest on November 21 by blocking the movement of JNPA. After the meeting in New Delhi, the agitation has been postponed to January 22, 2025.
“This is only a verbal assurance by Mr. Lakshmanan. When asked about the time frame of the project and when the work will start, he refused to give a concrete response and said that it will take some time to prepare the necessary documents in this regard. We strongly feel that this is to buy time and the proposed protest on December 21 There may be another attempt on the part of the governing bodies to induce people to return,” Mr. Pawar said.
In 1984, when the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township project was coming up, the people of Shewa. the village moved to two transit camps 12 km apart at their current location. The fishermen were given the village of Boripakhadi, also known as Hanuman or Sheva Koliwada. Farmers were given the village of Bokadweera, also known as Navin Shewa. They were promised compensation for the loss of their land, livelihood and way of life.
The JNPT was commissioned in 1989, and between 1983 and 1986 around 1,172 hectares of land was acquired for it through the Town and Industrial Development Corporation, Maharashtra’s Town Planning Agency. This port handles almost half of the cargo that passes through India’s major ports.
Over the years, residents have protested in a variety of ways, from blocking roads to blocking large ships at sea.
On September 30, 2024, JNPT took responsibility for the delay in writing, and said that the affected people would be rehabilitated soon.
published – December 22, 2024 at 05:37 PM IST