Mumbai The Supreme Court (SC) instructed the Maharashtra government on May 13 to expedite framing of a policy to compensate fisherfolk affected by state-funded development projects, and finalise the policy within a period of three months.
The apex court was hearing an appeal by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), challenging the disbursement of ₹10 crore compensation to fisherfolk affected by the Thane Creek Bridge-III project.
On March 23, in an interim order, the Bombay High Court (HC) directed that a compensation amount of ₹10 crore, deposited earlier as a guarantee by MSRDC, be disbursed to the Mariyai Machhimar Sahakari Sanstha (MMSS), which represents fisherfolk whose livelihoods have been affected across five different villages, including Vashigaon, Juhugaon, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli and Diva koliwadas.
The HC had ordered ₹1 lakh each to be paid to 948 fishers through cheques issued by the fishworkers’ organisation. “We received the amount in our bank account on April 8, after which individual cheques were issued to all affected fishers. However, the receipt of the money in the beneficiaries’ bank accounts was stopped following the SC orders on April 13,” explained Aditya Sutar, chairman, MMSS.
Taking the matter up for hearing again on May 13, the SC provided relief to the project-affected people and directed that the compensation amount be disbursed to all beneficiaries.
“Considering the fact that at present, more than seven to eight such projects are under progress, we direct the State to expedite the framing of the compensation policy at the earliest but not later than three months,” noted the two-judge bench of justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna.
Responding to queries by the apex court, the Maharashtra government has submitted that the draft policy is “under consideration and the meetings are going on”.
Via a general resolution on March 22, the state government had constituted a committee to look into the grievances of fisherfolk organisations, with respect to the Draft Fisherfolk Compensation Policy, which had been initially published in November last year.
This is the second committee to be formed pursuant to the August 2021 HC order, in response to a petition filed by the MMSS, who claimed compensation for fishermen contending that they were inhabitants of the Thane creek area and their customary right to fish in the creek was adversely affected by the construction of the third Thane Creek bridge (TCB-3), a proposed six-lane bridge on the Sion-Panvel highway which will connect Mumbai with the mainland at Navi Mumbai.
After the HC in August directed the state government to draft a policy to compensate fishers affected by development projects, the Maharashtra government in October composed a committee to oversee the formulation of the document. Despite clear instructions from the HC, the committee did not feature any members from the fishing community. Multiple fisherfolk groups have objected to this move, both before and after the publication of the draft policy.
One of these is the Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan, a fisherfolk organisation based in Bhandup, which filed an interim application before the HC earlier this year. “The HC noted the submissions made by us and felt that there was a need to revisit the Draft Policy. In February, the HC directed that suggestions made by the public regarding the draft be forwarded to the fisheries department and to the state cabinet. Our main contention is that no fisherfolk were on the committee. A policy that is drawn without due representation is not valid,” said Nandakumar Pawar, founder, SEAP.
At the time, the court observed that “It would be desirable if the state cabinet, to whom the draft policy is sent for consideration, take into account this court’s detailed order from August 12, 2021, in all respects, when finalising any policy for compensation for affected fishermen.”