A major traffic jam occurred on Monday along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad NH-48 highway due to a protest against the Vadhavan Port and “other destructive mega projects being imposed on the district”, including on forest and land across Palghar and Dahanu. The large crowd comprising Communist party members dressed in black marched from Tarapur to Palghar, where local fishermen, the Adivasi community, and labourers joined them in protesting outside the Collector’s Office.

The protesters strongly opposed the Vadhavan Port, the proposed airport, Murbe Port, the Kelwe Textile Park, and the so-called ‘Fourth Mumbai’ project. They alleged that these projects are environmentally destructive, socially unjust, and pose a direct threat to the survival of the local population.