Over 400 residents from the Sheva Koliwada village demanding justice from the State and Central governments, which had promised rehabilitation over 40 years ago after acquiring their lands for a township project
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Over 400 residents from the Sheva Koliwada village in Uran taluka of Maharashtra’s Raigad district sat in protest outside the tehsildar’s office on Monday (April 14, 2025), with a photo of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and a copy of the Constitution placed on a table nearby. They were demanding justice from the State and Central governments, which had promised rehabilitation over 40 years ago after acquiring their lands for a township project, and drew attention to the fact that they have been living in a transit camp ever since.
As part of protest held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the residents also wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urging him to look into their grievances. A police officer from the Uran police station said after receiving a positive response from the tehsildar, the residents had withdrawn the protest.
General view of Hanuman Koliwada where the JNPT project affected people were shifted in Uran, Raigad.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Tehsildar Uddhav Kadam said, “We have accepted their letter of demands regarding their rehabilitation. We have also accepted their representation to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) regarding shortage of water supply in their area and a letter addressed to the Chief Minister urging him to end their prolonged displacement. Tomorrow, we will submit all the letters to the respective offices.”
The residents also demanded answers for the delay in their rehabilitation and sought a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigation into the reasons for the delay.
Following The Hindu report “40 years in a transit camp” dated November 17, 2024 which had highlighted their plight and their decision to boycott the Maharashtra Assembly election, officials from the Election Commission of India and the Raigad District Collectorate had visited the village to convince them to vote.
Aerial view of Hanuman Koliwada where the JNPT project affected people were shifted in Uran, Raigad.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
The issue has its origins in 1984, when the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township project was coming up. The people of what was then Sheva gaon village, now known as Navi Mumbai, were moved to two transit camps, 12 km away, their current location. The fisherfolk got Boripakhadi village, also called Hanuman or Sheva koliwada; the farmers got Bokadvira village, also called Navin Sheva.
Also read: Will they continue to live in transit camps forever?
They were promised compensation for the loss of their land and livelihood. Sheva koliwada residents claim they have not been compensated, new homes were never built for them, and they have no proof that they own the land they have lived on for over 40 years now.
Ramesh Bhaskar Koli, 65, a fisherman and general secretary of the Maharashtra Small Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union, said that the residents had boycotted the election as they felt they were being used “as vote banks”.
On December 19, 2024, Mr. Koli and president of the union Nandakumar Pawar, had a meeting with the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, R. Lakshmanan, at Transport Bhawan in New Delhi, where JNPT General Manager and Secretary Manisha Jadhav and Deputy Collector (Rehabilitation), Raigad district, Bharat Waghmare were also present. The residents were given verbal assurance that the construction of their new homes and rehabilitation of 256 families on 10 hectares of land located at Jaskhargaon and Fundegaon in Uran taluk would begin.
“The Central authorities gave us verbal assurance that the rehabilitation work will begin, including the construction of the houses, along with civic amenities. They said it would take at least three years. According to the government gazette of the Raigad Collector’s office, 17.28 hectares of land was to be given for the rehabilitation, including 7.14 hectares for housing plots, and 10 hectares for civic amenities. But we came to a settlement hoping the work will begin,” Mr. Koli said.
On January 22, 2025, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal held a meeting with the residents and JNPT officials at a hotel in Powai after they had blocked ships heading to the JNPT in their small boats as part of their protest. He assured them that funds would be sanctioned and rehabilitation would begin within three months. The residents said they have not heard from officials after that.
The protest on Monday was also regarding the water shortage faced by them. From March 22, Sheva Koliwada has been getting water only for one hour in eight days, said Mr. Koli. “We have submitted 32 demands in our letter today to the tehsildar.”
The demands include declaration of the Hanuman Koliwada gram panchayat invalid permanently; probe into the reasons for delay in rehabilitation; reasons for failures in water supply by the MIDC; a detailed probe into the funds issued for the rehabilitation and failure to implement promises; and criminal action against the JNPT officials for delaying the rehabilitation.
Published – April 14, 2025 11:17 pm IST
