The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the state government to consider giving better fishing facilities and coastal land to the 53 families who have been given alternative accommodation on account of the Tarapur nuclear power project. The court also directed the state secretary for rehabilitation to look into the matter.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Ram Naik, who has intervened for the families in court, argued that the families had been shifted to a place 10 kilometres away from the seashore in Kopran village and have not been provided space to park their boats or keep fishing materials.
Naik also informed the court that the project has been executed by the state government and even though the beneficiary is the Nuclear Power Corporation, the onus of rehabilitation lies with the state government and it cannot shirk its responsibilities.
A division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice RG Ketkar has now directed the state government to inform it within two weeks about the proposed action plan to address the fishermen’s grievances.
