Mumbai: There will be no forcible land acquisition for the Rs 76,000 crore Vadhvan Port project, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Instead, all land acquisition will be carried out only through discussions with the local fishing community and farmers, he assured. Nearly 30-40% of the land for the proposed port has already been acquired.Fadnavis, accompanied by state forest minister Ganesh Naik and fisheries minister Nitesh Rane, visited various infrastructure sites and inspected ongoing works of various projects in Palghar district on Sunday. He also held a review meeting with officials.Addressing the media at the site of the proposed Vadhvan Port, Fadnavis said, “Our aim is to ensure the local community benefits from the development. We do not want to relax all environmental norms only those required for development. We do not want to cause large-scale displacement, replace the Dahanu Authority. The local ITI will be upgraded and training imparted free of cost to locals. A separate port will be built for the fishing community,” he said.Fadnavis said 90% of the regulatory permissions for the port have been obtained and the remaining would be obtained soon. “Our effort is to ensure that major work is completed in the next three years. We have now started planning for the time when the port is completed,” he said.The building of the port, said the CM, will be a historic chapter in India’s development journey and drive the economic growth of the state and country for the next three decades. The port, Fadnavis said, is being built at Chinchani beach where a natural water depth of 20 metres is available, capable of handling the world’s largest cargo ships. The port, when completed, will handle three times the cargo-handling capacity of JNPA and would rank among the world’s top ten ports.The CM said the port would generate around 10 lakh jobs and the government was upgrading industrial training institutes, establishing fisheries institute and launching skill development programmes so locals could get high paying jobs.“Vadhvan port, along with the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor, the proposed offshore airport, and improved rail and road connectivity will transform Palghar district into a major economic hub as the fourth Mumbai,” Fadnavis said. Planning will be done for more residential, than commercial development, while ensuring conservation of biodiversity.A government press release said the CM reviewed the progress of the Naringi Creek Bridge, which will enable direct connectivity between Vasai-Virar, Saphale, Boisar, and Palghar reducing travel distance by 40km and travel time by 45 minutes.
