Minister steps in to end Sassoon Dock standoff
State fisheries and ports development minister, Nitesh Rane, said in the legislative council on Monday that the state government is working with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) and the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC) to resolve the dispute.
'I have spoken to fishermen and the Mumbai Port Authority, and will also speak to the central government. We will find a way out of the impasse over the dues,' Rane said. 'The fishing community will not be evicted (from the dock). I will assure fishermen agitating at Azad Maidan that we will find a solution,'' he added.
A crisis arose after MbPA, which owns 60 warehouses or godowns at Sassoon Dock in Colaba, recently threatened to shut these facilities if it did not receive rentals at par with Ready Reckoner rates.
On June 28 and July 8, HT reported on the MbPA ultimatum, which gave the fishing community two weeks to comply. The warehouses are used as processing centres for the daily catch that lands at the dock from fishing trawlers, as well as other small ports in and around Mumbai. If the warehouses were to shut, the entire seafood supply chain, which includes the supply of fish to the city and beyond would collapse.
In the legislative council on Monday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sachin Ahir drew attention to the long-drawn rent dispute, which goes back more than 30 years. He said that in 2014, MbPA had asked godown operators to vacate the premises but backed down after a 2015 meeting with then ministers Eknath Khadse and Nitin Gadkari, who worked out an agreement to protect the fishing industry through a tripartite arrangement.
'If seafood suppliers, godown operators and fisher folk are displaced, new facilities in the name of development would serve no purpose,' he said, in an oblique reference to allegations that the warehouses were sought to be used in ways that would generate more revenue for the port authorities.
Responding to Ahir, Rane clarified in the legislative council, 'The development at Sassoon Dock aims to enhance infrastructure and boost seafood production. We do not intend to relocate the community to Vasai and Virar, like mill workers were in the past. These are poor fishermen who cannot afford rents based on current Ready Reckoner rates.'
Rane said discussions are ongoing with the central government and MbPA to waive heavy dues. 'I assure the house that the state government will safeguard the interests of the fishing community without imposing penalties. A resolution will be reached.'
Krishna Pawle, president of the Shiv Bharatiya Port Sena said, 'The most important issue is the dues and it was said that the dispute is between the tenants and the landlord, and the outstanding dues based on Ready Reckoner rates cannot be paid by fishermen. So, the state government will look at means to waive it or find a way out. The only thing is the decision taken in 2015 on tripartite agreement between MbPA, MFDC and godown pre-processors so that Ready Reckoner rates won't be applicable to them as it is a seasonal business.'
The impasse at Sassoon Dock was originally raised by Congress MLA Rajesh Rathod, who said that women cleaning fish did not have rest rooms at the dock. Rane, in reply, said the government would provide basic facilities and also request other government agencies to open a crèche at the dock.
NCP MLA Shivai Garje drew attention to the waste that collects due to the processing of seafood at the warehouses and dock. 'When children go to school in the morning, they cover their noses. I want some solution,'' Garje said. Replying to this, Rane said that the waste too would be processed. 'We are talking to some companies to process it, so that it is picked up.'
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