Thane Creek Bridge III: Bombay HC Sets Up Task Force To Decide Compensation For Fishers, Says TISS Report Not Scientific
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has formed a task force to determine the extent of compensation that should be paid to fisherfolk families who have been affected by the construction of Thane Creek Bridge-III.
A bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said in a judgement passed on October 16 that it expects the compensation to be in tune with the Maharashtra state government’s policy for project-affected fishers.
“This exercise is expected to be completed as expeditiously as possible within a period of six months from today, as we are of the view that fishermen community, which definitely is impacted to some extent by construction of TCB-III, cannot be made to wait too long,” the court said.
TISS Report Not Scientific: HC
The court said that a report submitted on the subject by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences lacked a proper scientific model or objective criteria, as it did not demonstrate how fisherfolk or villagers would actually be affected by the construction of the Thane Creek Bridge-III.
Thane–Airoli Creek Bridge Project Advances; 3 Firms Submit BidsThe judges said that TISS went beyond its mandate to recommend compensation for fishermen during construction and post completion of the bridge, and that it included livelihood security compensation for six years “without assessment of any impact on the livelihood or rehabilitation or presettlement in its true sense”.
The court said: “We are surprised to note that TISS report has recommended a compensation of approximately Rs.141 crore, whereas the total cost of the project is Rs.500 crore, which is definitely disproportionate to the cost incurred in construction of TCB-III.”
The judges said that the institute had relied on self-declaration forms from project-affected persons without corroborating the figures with official statistics.
The Petitions
The judgement was passed in response to petitions filed by the Mariyayi Machhimaar Sahkari Sanstha Maryadit and Koperkhairane Machhimaar Sarkari Society Maryadit on behalf of fisherfolk from Vashi, Juhu, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli and Diva.
The fishers had sought compensation claiming that they were residents of the Thane creek area, and that their customary right to fish had been adversely affected by the construction of the Thane Creek Bridge-III.
The High Court had in May 2025 appointed TISS to work out the extent of the damage due to the project.
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