Transit camp residents displaced by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) township project marked Rashabandhan (August 9) with a symbolic possession and Bhoomi puja on the 10.46 hectares approved for their rehabilitation. However, the funds for building their homes remain unreleased. 

Advocate Siddharth Sonaji Ingle, representing the petition alleging false assurances over the last 40 years, said, “The fight is not over yet, it has become more intense now. For 40 years, the fishermen of Sheva Koliwada in Uran taluka have endured injustice. They are kept in transit camps without proper rehabilitation despite being displaced by the JNPT project. Even after the central government approved 10.46 hectares of land, the authorities hesitate to allocate it, the funds are not sanctioned yet. This was marked as a symbolic possession by beating a spade and breaking a coconut on the land, as a reminder to the authorities who have been sitting on this issue for four decades.” 

In 2024, following The Hindu’s report, ‘40 years in a transit camp’, officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Raigad District Collector visited the village to convince people to vote, and promised to convey their demand for rehabilitation after the election. Ahead of the State Assembly election held on November 20, 2024, residents alleged that political parties had threatened them with job losses in the private sector and loss of documents, including the Aadhaar card, Voter ID, and Ration Card. 

On December 19, 2024, residents representatives: Ramesh Bhaskar Koli (66), Nandakumar Pawar, president of the Maharashtra Small-Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) general manager and secretary Manisha Jadhav, Bharat Waghmare, Deputy Collector (Rehabilitation), Raigad district met the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, R. Lakshmanan, at Transport Bhawan in New Delhi. At the meeting, the Joint Secretary verbally approved the proposal submitted by Mr. Waghmare to begin construction for the rehabilitation of 256 families on 10 hectares of land located in Jaskhargaon and Fundegaon in Uran taluk. 

Mr. Koli said, “When they gave us verbal assurance, they told us it would take at least three years time. 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 10.14 hectares for civic amenities. But we had come to a settlement so that at least let the work begin and we will push for the remaining seven hectares later.”   

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 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. Residents said they have not heard from officials since. 

In June, fed up with the follow-ups, the residents moved the Bombay High Court seeking compensation, a court-monitored committee, and permanent housing for 256 displaced families.

Now, the women’s group from the transit camp plans to launch an indefinite JNPA channel blockade from August 15 over the long-standing rehabilitation issues.