Mumbai, Aug. 22 -- The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), which is jointly constructing the Vadhavan port in Palghar district with the Maharashtra Maritime Board, is eyeing 100 hectares of forest land in the vicinity to set up a stone quarry, JNPA chairperson Unmesh Wagh told Hindustan Times. "Stones from the quarry will be used to construct the port, breakwaters and other buildings. We have been allowed to conduct necessary tests to check the quality of stones," said Wagh. On Wednesday, the forest department issued a government resolution (GR) allowing the JNPA to conduct geo-technical survey on 295.23 hectares of densely forested land and dig 20 boreholes at Khanivade and Gargaon villages in Palghar district. The GR was issued pursuant to a proposal submitted by the JNPA deputy general manager. The JNPA will select 100 hectares for its quarry from within the area approved for testing, depending on findings of the geo-technical survey, Wagh clarified. The legal status of the 295.23 hectares would remain unchanged during testing and no trees would be felled during the process, the GR said. Activists, however, slammed the move, saying it would further damage the local ecology. "When public hearings were conducted for the Vadhavan port, the authorities never told us where the quarry for the project would be located. They only said the forest department would identify the area. Now, they have identified a densely forested belt with tribal hamlets," said activist Bhushan Bhoir, who works as a technical expert with the Vadhavan Bandar Virodhi Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, which is spearheading protests against the upcoming port. Setting up a stone quarry in the area would lead to immense ecological destruction, Bhoir said. "The government should have at least conducted a survey on wildlife in the area prior to giving permission for the survey," he added. Environmentalist Rohit Joshi said a quarry in the area would worsen the impact of the port and related activities on the environment and nature. "Why can't stones be brought from a barren area nearby," he asked.' The proposed Vadhavan port involves reclamation of Around 1,448 hectares of land will be reclaimed from the sea for the proposed port, alongside construction of a 10.14-km offshore breakwater and container/ cargo storage areas. The container handling capacity of the port would be around 23.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents) and the first phase will be ready by 2029. The port will comprise nine container terminals, each 1000-metre long, four multipurpose berths including a coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth. The port will be connected to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway via a 32-km road and the Mumbai-Vadodara highway via a 22-km road....