PM Modi Performs Bhoomi Pujan Of India's Largest Vadhavan Port In Palghar

The Bhoomi Pujan Ceremony of the ₹76,200-crore Vadhavan port was held at CIDCO Ground in Palghar at 1 PM. Around 7,000 policemen have been deployed for this programme which was attended by PM Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal among others.

Palghar (Maharashtra): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday performed the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony of the Rs 76,200 crore Vadhavan port in the Palghar district at 1 PM, amid opposition from fishermen, farmers and environmentalists citing multiple environmental reasons.

As many as 7,000 policemen were deployed for this programme. The function was held at CIDCO Ground in Palghar. Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Ministers of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying S P Singh Baghel and George Kurian attended the ceremony.

The port, located around 130 km north of Mumbai near Dahanu on Maharashtra’s west coast, is an all-weather Greenfield deep-draft major port off the Arabian Sea. It was approved by the Union Cabinet in June and is set to be the biggest in the country. It will be the 13th port in India with a capacity of around 298 million tonnes.

The port is a collaboration between Vadhavan Port Project Ltd (VPPL) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) with a shareholding of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, official sources said.

The port will have four multi-purpose berths including four liquid bulk berths, one RO-RO berth, a Small Craft, a Coast Guard berth and a Railway terminal. The project involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas, the sources said.

The project, echoing the objectives of PM Gati Shakti programme, will boost economic activity and also create employment opportunities for around 12 lakh individuals, sources said. The first phase will be ready by 2029, while the second and final phase is expected to be completed by 2039.

Why Are Fishermen, and Farmers Protesting?Local villagers and fishermen united under the Vadhavan Bandar Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (VBVSS) to halt the construction of the project, saying it would cause harm to the environment and their livelihoods. They also said that they fear of being thrown out after the construction of the port.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had declared Dahanu an ecologically fragile area and restricted setting up industries that harm the environment, they claimed.

However, it is to be noted that the protest against the construction of the port has been going on for the past 25 years. The construction of the port was first proposed by an Australian company in 1997. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA )I regime then tried to develop it, but it had to stop after activists and locals raised environmental issues.