Small fishermen take on mighty ISPAT

Dharamtar’s fishing community is up in arms against what it claims is a direct threat to its livelihood. The members allege that the company barges are "scaring the fish away”, breaking through the nets they cast, making it difficult for them to fish. They say the five-year struggle to get a "decent rehabilitation package” from the company for all the losses they have suffered has culminated in the present agitation.

President of the Dharamtar Khadi Bachao Kriti Samiti, Kishore Mhatre, says: "Ever since the government gave the company clearance to use the water channel, our fishing area has been reduced. At present, we are permitted only to fish in a 125-m wide channel. This is the same channel that the barges are using, and hence we have been asked to shift our activities along the edges. That would mean that our chances of catching fish will be reduced.”

For five days now, fishermen have abandoned their homes and set up camps along the creek, ensuring that no barge can travel to and from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). Every time a barge that sails from the JNPT approaches the mouth of the creek, an alert is sounded. Fishermen promptly jump into their boats and form a chain across the width of the creek, forcing the barge to turn around. These nakas have been made at regular intervals all along the creek.

Says fisherman Anant Ram Mahatre: "We are living on the banks and will continue to do so till our demands are met. It is the question of our livelihood and we are not prepared to accept the fact that one company has systematically destroyed everything we have ever known. The dredging, their barges and all their activities have ruined us.”

The water channel is predominantly used by the ISPAT group for transporting raw materials and the finished product to and fro from JNPT. On an average, around 20 barges cruise through the creek every day.

"There is a railway track that runs right behind their factory, and yet they use the barges,” says Nitin, a third-generation fisherman. “We have lost so much. This is the only thing I know how to do and now I can’t do it like my grandfather did and earn enough to support my family.”

The fishermen started protesting against the one-million-tonne gas-based sponge iron plant from the day work began. The agitation intensified when the company constructed a new jetty and the barges started coming.

Comparing the water channel to a highway, fishermen say that since they are being displaced, they should be adequately compensated. The 300 odd fishermen have demanded Rs 2.5 lakh each as rehabilitation.

ISPAT officials, while claiming that the agitation hasn’t affected production much, say: “We are willing to consider a rehabilitation package, but first we need a list of genuine fishermen. We have asked the government to finalise a list of people who are actually involved in fishing and are then willing to see how we can compensate them.”