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The Bombay High Court upheld the July 2023 order passed by the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA), allowing the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) to develop a greenfield port at Vadhavan in Palghar district. The division bench comprising Justices A.S. Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain dismissed petitions filed by the Conservation Action Trust and the National Fish-worker's Forum, challenging the DTEPA order.
The court stated that the DTEPA had considered all relevant aspects before granting approval for the greenfield port. It highlighted that the DTEPA had proposed mitigation measures, including constituting monitoring committees for different subjects and a grievance committee to address stakeholders' concerns. However, the court clarified that the DTEPA's approval is merely a step towards the actual establishment of the greenfield port. JNPA is required to obtain necessary clearances and approvals from various authorities, including the Expert Appraisal Committee and the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Only upon receiving approvals from all concerned authorities can the greenfield port be established. The court acknowledged the DTEPA's 'U-turn' in September 1998, when it had deemed a mega port in Dahanu taluka as wholly impermissible, citing the region's classification as an 'ecologically fragile area' by the MoEF&CC. However, the court noted that the situation has changed, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) removing the 'red category' tag for ports and the MoEF&CC allowing ports and harbours in ecologically fragile areas. Additionally, the court highlighted that the proposed greenfield port's location had shifted from onshore to offshore, approximately six kilometers from the shoreline, placing it outside the Dahanu Taluka region and within the domain of the Central Government.
The court dismissed the petitioners' contention that the DTEPA did not consider the increased reclamation from 86.88 million cubic meters (mcum) to 200 mcum due to the location change from onshore to offshore. The court accepted JNPA's argument that the earlier apprehension was about shoreline change, and hence, the port was shifted offshore, requiring only a connecting highway and railway line on the shore. The greenfield port project is being developed by JNPA in a joint venture with the Maharashtra Maritime Board with an estimated cost of INR 76,220 crore, covering a total area of 17,471 hectares, including 16,906 hectares for the port area and the remaining 571 hectares for ancillary activities.
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