Verbal assurance was given for the rehabilitation of the Sheva Koliwada transport camp

An aerial view of the Hanuman Koliwada where the JNPT’s human-affected project was replaced at Uran, Raigad. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Residents of Sheva Koliwada in Uran taluk of Raigad district, Maharashtra, who have been living in a camp for 40 years, received a verbal nod from a senior Union government official that they will be provided with permanent housing soon. In 2024, citizens boycotted the Lok Sabha and the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.

To follow A HinduIn the report, ’40 years in a walking camp’ (November 17, 2024), Santosh Kumar Rai, Inspector General of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the Uran Vidhan Sabha constituency met the residents before the Assembly elections and appealed to them. voting as elections take place once in five years. Mr Rai told the residents that he would take their complaints to the ECI when he returned to New Delhi. Bharat Waghmare, Deputy Collector (Rehabilitation), Raigad district also urged the people of the village to vote, promising to do everything possible to end their problems.

On December 19, Ramesh Bhaskar Koli, 65, resident and fisherman, and general secretary of the Maharashtra Small-Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union; Nandakumar Pawar, union president; Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) General Manager and Secretary Manisha Jadhav; and Mr. Waghmare met with the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Transport and Waterways, R. Lakshmanan, Transport Bhawan in New Delhi. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Raigad district was supposed to attend the meeting but there was no representative from their side.

At the meeting, the Joint Secretary accepted orally the proposal submitted by Mr. Waghmare is the first rehabilitation construction for 256 families on 10 acres of land at Jaskhargaon and Fundegaon in Uran taluk.

“Central authorities have given verbal assurance that the reconstruction work, including the construction of houses, and public services. They said it would take at least three years. We have reached the point where you can at least start work; we will push the remaining seven acres later. According to the government gazette of the Raigad Collector’s office, 17.28 hectares of land will be given for development, including 7.14 hectares for housing, and 10.14 hectares for public facilities,” said Mr.

Earlier, the organization of women who were evicted from Sheva Koliwada had said that they will hold a protest on December 21 by blocking the movement of JNPA. After the meeting in New Delhi, the protests were postponed to January 22, 2025.

“This is only a verbal confirmation of Mr. Lakshmanan. When we asked about the deadline for the work and when the work will start, he refused to give a definite answer and said that he needed time to clarify the relevant documents in this matter. We strongly feel that this may be another attempt by the governing bodies to buy time and persuade people to cancel the proposed protest on December 21,” said Mr. Pawar.

In 1984, when the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township scheme came up, the people of Sheva. gaon they were moved to two refugee camps, 12 kilometers apart, where they are now. Fishermen were given the village of Boripakhadi, also called Hanuman or Sheva Koliwada; farmers were given the village of Bokadvira, also called Navin Sheva. They were promised compensation for the loss of their land, livelihood, and way of life.

JNPT became operational in 1989, and about 1,172 hectares of land was purchased for it through the City and Industrial Development Corporation, the urban planning agency of Maharashtra, between 1983 and 1986. The port handles almost half of all cargo passing through India’s major ports.

Over the years, citizens 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 rectified soon.