Gandhidham locals to protest over free holding of leased land

Residents of Gandhidham will carry out a protest on Friday to get their leased land converted into free-hold. They claim that they have to pay hefty fees to Deendayal Port Trust (Kandla Port Trust) for the mortgage or transfer of the land. 

The Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday, met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to ask for his help in converting the leased land into free-hold land.

Dinesh Gupta, president of the Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that in early 1930s, Kandla Port Trust (later renamed as Deendayal Port Trust – DPT) was formed to develop Kandla as a major port. 

The then princely state had provided the land on lease. There are close to 30,000 lease holders, of whom about 85% are households. “We want that land to be converted into free-hold because the trust is seeking hefty fees for mortgage or transfer of land. The amount is humongous and runs into lakhs of rupees. If it is converted into free-hold, then we will get the rights to the land. 

The people who are residing there now have invested a lot as well,” Gupta told DNA.

He said that residents and businessmen of Gandhidham will carry out a rally on Friday and submit a memorandum to DPT officials, seeking free holding of the land. He cited similar instances with port trusts in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country.

Nimish Phadke, MD of Federation of Kutch Industries Association (FOKIA), said that the matter is very tricky now with the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including a section of people who migrated from Sindh after partition of the country in 1947. 

“At that time, the charges and fees were just a token. Now, Kandla is one of the major ports of India and the land parcel is very valuable. Since the port trust owns the land now, it does not want to hand it over. It may want to hold on to it for future expansion,” said Phadke.