Transit camp residents mark Rakshabandhan with symbolic possession of rehabilitation land

Transit camp residents displaced by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township venture marked Rashabandhan (August 9) with a symbolic possession and Bhoomi puja on the ten.46 hectares permitted for his or her rehabilitation. However, the funds for constructing their properties stay unreleased. 

Advocate Siddharth Sonaji Ingle, representing the petition alleging false assurances over the past 40 years, mentioned, “The combat is just not over but, it has change into extra intense now. For 40 years, the fishermen of Sheva Koliwada in Uran taluka have endured injustice. They are saved in transit camps with out correct rehabilitation regardless of being displaced by the JNPT venture. Even after the central authorities permitted 10.46 hectares of land, the authorities hesitate to allocate it, the funds usually are not sanctioned but. This was marked as a symbolic possession by beating a spade and breaking a coconut on the land, as a reminder to the authorities who’ve been sitting on this problem for 4 many years.” 

In 2024, following The Hindu’s report, ‘40 years in a transit camp’, officers from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Raigad District Collector visited the village to persuade folks to vote, and promised to convey their demand for rehabilitation after the election. Ahead of the State Assembly election held on November 20, 2024, residents alleged that political events had threatened them with job losses within the personal sector and lack of paperwork, together with the Aadhaar card, Voter ID, and Ration Card. 

On December 19, 2024, residents representatives: Ramesh Bhaskar Koli (66), Nandakumar Pawar, president of the Maharashtra Small-Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) normal supervisor and secretary Manisha Jadhav, Bharat Waghmare, Deputy Collector (Rehabilitation), Raigad district met the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, R. Lakshmanan, at Transport Bhawan in New Delhi. At the assembly, the Joint Secretary verbally permitted the proposal submitted by Mr. Waghmare to start development for the rehabilitation of 256 households on 10 hectares of land situated in Jaskhargaon and Fundegaon in Uran taluk. 

Mr. Koli mentioned, “When they gave us verbal assurance, they informed us it might take no less than three years time. According to the federal government gazette of the Raigad Collector’s workplace, 17.28 hectares of land was to be given for the rehabilitation, together with 7.14 hectares for housing plots, and 10.14 hectares for civic facilities. But we had come to a settlement in order that no less than let the work start and we are going to push for the remaining seven hectares later.”   

On January 22, 2025, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, held a gathering with the residents and JNPT officers at a resort in Powai after that they had blocked ships heading to JNPT of their small boats as a part of their protest. He assured them that funds could be sanctioned and rehabilitation would start inside three months. Residents mentioned they haven’t heard from officers since. 

In June, fed up with the follow-ups, the residents moved the Bombay High Court looking for compensation, a court-monitored committee, and everlasting housing for 256 displaced households.

Now, the ladies’s group from the transit camp plans to launch an indefinite JNPA channel blockade from August 15 over the long-standing rehabilitation points.