Transit camp residents displaced by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township project marked Rashabandhan (August 9) with a symbolic possession and Bhoomi puja on the 10.46 hectares approved for their rehabilitation. However, the funds for building their homes remain unreleased.
Advocate Siddharth Sonaji Ingle, representing the petition alleging false assurances over the last 40 years, said, “The fight is not over yet, it has become more intense now. For 40 years, the fishermen of Sheva Koliwada in Uran taluka have endured injustice. They are kept in transit camps without proper rehabilitation despite being displaced by the JNPT project. Even after the central government approved 10.46 hectares of land, the authorities hesitate to allocate it, the funds are not sanctioned yet. 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 have been sitting on this issue for four decades.”
In 2024, following The Hindu’s report, ‘40 years in a transit camp’, officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Raigad District Collector visited the village to convince people 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 parties had threatened them with job losses in the private sector and loss of documents, including the Aadhaar card, Voter ID, and Ration Card.
