Bombay HC Clears Mangrove Removal To Set The Vadhvan Project In Palghar On Fast Track

Mumbai/Palghar :  The Bombay High Court has paved the way for accelerated execution of the Vadhvan Port Project in Maharashtra's Palghar district by granting clearance for the removal of mangrove patches located within the approach area of the near-shore reclamation zone. A bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, in the order passed on Tuesday, said the project is of public importance and has wider economic significance.

The bench has permitted the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to fell 208 mangrove trees for the construction of an eight-lane access-controlled highway linking the upcoming port in Palghar district to NH-48.

The court added that the project proponent had secured all necessary environmental, coastal regulation zone and forest clearances, besides complying with compensatory afforestation requirements.

The project was in the larger public interest and would provide crucial connectivity to the proposed Vadhavan Port, which has been identified as a nationally important infrastructure project, HC said.

"In our view, the said project being of public utility, would provide connectivity to the Vadhavan Port which is being developed as a major port on landlord port development model, which would open an opportunity for India to make it into the countries with top 10 container ports in the world," the court said. 

The NHAI had approached the court seeking approval in view of earlier directions passed by the high court in a long-pending mangrove protection PIL, which requires prior court permission for the destruction of mangroves even in public projects.

The court, in its order, said NHAI had complied with compensatory afforestation requirements. The project proponent has undertaken the plantation of 1.33 lakh mangroves on 30 hectares of land and deposited more than Rs 4.83 crore towards mangrove compensatory afforestation, apart from other payments required under forest clearance conditions.

With this clearance, key pending issues affecting project implementation have been resolved, and it is now poised to move ahead at full pace, the Vadhvan Port Project Limited (VVPL) said in a release on Wednesday.

VVPL Chairman and Managing Director Gaurav Dayal said the clearances and parallel progress across multiple workstreams mark the beginning of a new phase for the project.

The momentum achieved in approvals, infrastructure development, and stakeholder coordination has strengthened confidence in the timely execution of the project and its commissioning within the targeted timeframe, he said.

The upcoming all-weather, greenfield port at Vadhvan near Dahanu town in Palghar district, located adjoining Mumbai, is being constructed by a special purpose vehicle formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board.

The sprawling facility will comprise nine container terminals, each 1,000 metres long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth.

This mega project involves the reclamation of a 1,448-hectare area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Rs 76,220 crore port project on August 30, 2024. It is projected to be among the top 10 container ports in the world.