On Monday 21st November 2022, the occasion of World fisheries day, a mass protest rally has been organized in Mumbai against the proposed port at Vadhavan. This rally is to oppose the state and corporate grab of coastal land and resources away from traditional fisher and other coastal communities. The protest march organized by fishworkers unions and local organizations in the region will start at 11 am from Taraporewala Aquarium and finally assemble at Azad Maidan.
Estimated to cost Rs 65,545 crore, the Vadhavan port near Dahanu in the Palghar district of Maharashtra is proposed to be the largest port in Asia and is part of the ambitious Sagarmala programme. The Vadhavan port project had earlier been called off by The Dahanu Taluka Environmental Protection Authority considering the potential damage it could cause in the region which has been declared 'ecologically fragile' since 19..
However the proposal for the Vadhavan port has been revived once again with a move to declassify ports, harbours and jetties as "industrial activities" in order to allow these to be constructed in Ecologically Sensitive areas.
The fisherfolk, farmers adivasis and other coastal communities of the region around Vadhavan village are strongly opposing the proposed port for the following reasons:
1) The coast of Vadhavan is ecologically rich and a highly productive fish breeding ground. This will be completely destroyed due to the proposed reclamation of about 5000 acres from the sea.
2) The proposed port will impact about 100,000 - 150,000 local fisherfolk who have been sustaining themselves by using traditional fishing methods. Thousands of boats go out for fishing daily along this coast - and benefit from high value catch. The destruction of the fishing grounds due to coastal reclamation will destroy traditional fishing livelihood.
3) Port activities such as the loading unloading of material such as coal and oil is likely to release pollutants into the sea which will lead to the destruction of fragile coastal ecosystems. This will also affect the livelihoods of fishers who practice intertidal fishing, and sustain thernselves by collecting clams and other shell fish frorn rocky shores.
4) Reclamation on such a large scale and the construction of breakwaters in the sea which will be several kilornetres long will impact ocean currents and tidal flows, and increase the threat of erosion, flooding and inundation of large areas along the coast. This is likely to affect settlements and villages in the future.
5) The large scale reclamation activity for the port which will cover an area of approxirnately 5000 acres would require the quarrying or flattening of hills and rnountains in region. This will destroy forests and natural ecosystems, affect ground water, exacerbate the impacts due to climate change and also affect the livelihoods of resource dependent Adivasi communities.
6) The proposed port and ancillary development activities will include polluting industries as well as large scale infrastructural development. These developments will affect the existing farming and horticultural activities that the region is well known for. The livelihoods of thousands of local cornmunities dependent on farming and ancillary activities will be impacted.
7) The Port will also adversely affect the local die making industry (moulds used for jewellery manufacture) in the region that employs up to 10000 people. 8) The proposed port will thus lead to collapse of an entire self-sustaining economy in the region, thereby, displacing a huge number of fisherfolk, small-scale industries, farmers and adivasis. We strongly condemn such policies that are destructive to the environment, disastrous from the perspective of climate impacts, are anti-fisherfolk and have no concern for the well-being of local communities. We demand that the proposed port be cancelled!
Protest organised by (1) Vadhawan Bunder Virodhi Samiti, (2) Nationala Fishworkers Forun, (A) Mdrchin. Kruti (4)11‘.. Eta. Nri..); (7) Kashtakari Sangathna
Why are villagers in Maharashtra’s Dahanu objecting to the Vadhavan port project? https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/maharashtra-dahanu-protests-vadhavan-jnpt-port-project-7092466/ 
The port project, estimated to cost Rs 65,544.54 crore, is part of the Centre’s Sagarmala initiative that aims to make Indian ports major contributors to the country’s GDP.
Wadhwan Port | वाढवण बंदराविरोधात मुंबईतील ते डहाणूपर्यंत कोळीवाड्यांमध्ये बंदची हाक | ABP Majha Dec 15, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjsdQ6lGtrA
केंद्र सरकारच्या प्रस्तावित वाढवण बंदर विरोधात आज वाढवण बंदर विरोधी संघर्ष समितीकडून आज बंदची हाक देण्यात आली आहे. मुंबईतील कफ परेड ते डहाणूच्या झाईपर्यंत कोळीवाडे आणि गावांमध्ये बंद पुकारला आहे. या बंदला अनेक मच्छीमार संघटना तसेच रिक्षाचालक-मालक संघटनांनी देखील पाठिंबा दिला आहे. हिवाळी अधिवेशनाच्या पार्श्वभूमीवर राज्य सरकारचं लक्ष वेधण्यासाठी आज कडकडीत बंद पुकारण्यात आला आहे. किनारपट्टीवरील बाजारपेठा, मच्छीबाजार बंद ठेवण्यात आला आहे.
Report on the lprevious rally in 2020 https://www.newsclick.in/with-daylong-strike-fisherfolks-mumbai-region-unite-aadhwan-port