Maharashtra: Activists Protest Against Construction Of Rs 65,000 Crore Mega Port At Wadhavan Near Mumbai

After the protests against the construction of Vizhinjam international sea port in Kerala, another proposed mega port came under the fire of protestors.

This time the planned mega container port at Wadhavan, near Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra, is being opposed by activists.

On Monday (21 November), protestors from seven local organisations gathered at Azad Maidan in Mumbai demanding the rollback of Rs 65,545 crore port development project, reports Hindustan Times.

“The proposed port will thus lead to the collapse of an entire self-sustaining economy in the region, thereby displacing a huge number of fishermen, small-scale industries, farmers and adivasis,” the Wadhavan Bunder Virodhi Sangarsh Samiti, which is spearheading these protests, said in a statement.

Wadhavan: A Mega Port Near Mumbai

The Wadhavan Port will be located at a distance of 140 km from Mumbai and 150 km from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

In Feb 2020, the proposal to create the huge port – on a ‘landlord model’ – was cleared by the Union Cabinet.

Situated in a picturesque coastal tract, the Wadhavan Port has a natural draft of around 20 metres close to the shore, making it ideal to handle modern big container vessels.

The development of Wadhavan Port will enable the call of larger container vessels of 16,000-25,000 TEUs capacity, giving advantages of economies of scale and reducing logistics costs.

The greenfield port at Wadhavan is significant as there is a need for a deep draft port that can accommodate the largest container ships in the world and also cater to the spillover traffic after JNPT’s planned capacity of 10 million TEUs is fully utilised.

The JNPT and Mundra Port, the two largest container ports in India, with a draft of 15 metres and 16 metres, respectively, can handle only mid-size ships, while the world’s largest container ports require a draft of 18-20 metres.