Centre told of public woes due to port work at Pipavav

Earlier,in reply to an RTI application filed by some villagers of Shial Bet,the collector had underlined that the concerns expressed by the residents were ‘true’. The district administration had also directed the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) at Jafarabad on July 29,2009 to carry out a thorough investigation in this matter.

Following this,GMB Port Officer G T Manat had visited the island on August 24 and submitted his report to Sompura. “The GMB’s report,the representations by the Shial Bet’s gram panchayat and the district administration’s own observations from the report have been sent to the Centre,” he said.

Shial Bet sarpanch Nanji Baladhia said: “Our only mode of transportation to the mainland was the Pipavav Port company’s jetty number 1,which is now filled with mud extracted during dredging. This has virtually cut us off from the outside world,as the company officials are very reluctant to let us pass through other jetties. There have been cases where even pregnant village women were made to wait for hours to be let across.”

Baladhia added: “The dredging has either left wells and hand-pumps in the island dry or saline,making agriculture absolutely impossible. Saline water has put the health of humans and animals alike in jeopardy.”

Chittar Baladhia,deputy sarpanch of the gram panchyat and president of ‘Shial Bet Swayamsevak Sangh’,an organisation fighting for the rights of fishermen,said,“Dredging has resulted in lowering of the sea-level by a few metres at least. The land where we dried our fish catch is now totally filled with water,directly affecting our livelihood.”

The Shial Bet gram panchayat had submitted several detailed memoranda to the GMB,the Amreli District Collectorate and the Port Transport Department of the state government. They are now awaiting some respite from the Centre.

Meanwhile,Ravi Gaitonde,Chief Operation Officer, Pipavav Port,was unavailable for comments. Managing Director Prakash Tulsiani repeatedly turned down requests for comments on the issue. Bhuvana Ramalingam, Head,Corporate Communications,said she needed time to find out the details as she is new to the job,while another senior official,Legal Manager Mukesh Dave, only said: “All allegations levelled by the Shial Bet gram panchayat are untrue.”