MUMBAI, Nov. 4 -- Opposing the Vadhavan Port project in Palghar district, fishermen and villagers of Varor and Vadhavan entered the sea and stayed there for several hours as part of their 'Jal samadhi andolan' on Monday. Fishermen's representatives have also decided not to attend a meeting called by the state government on Wednesday to discuss their rehabilitation. Devendra Tandel of the All-Maharashtra Fishermen Action Committee (AMFAC) said that many organisations would boycott the meeting. "Initially, discussions were held in the name of compensation, and now meetings are being directly organised regarding the rehabilitation policy. The government's shift from compensation to rehabilitation amounts to a betrayal of the fishing community," he said in a letter to the government. Tandel said that the fishing community had never given its consent to the Vadhavan Port project, and initiating the rehabilitation process by presuming that fishermen would be displaced was tantamount to stabbing the fishing community in the back. "Both compensation and rehabilitation are unacceptable," he said. "Our organisation opposes the very establishment of the Vadhavan Port Project. When we oppose the project itself, holding policy discussions based on its consequences amounts to indirectly accepting the inevitability of the project." On October 30, villagers opposing the project held a public meeting at Varor villages near Vadhavan to oppose the project. It was also attended by leaders from various opposition parties. "If Vadhavan Port comes up, there will be no fishing zone over 17,000 acres," said Tandel. "There is a report by the Central Marine Fisheries Institute that 20,809 fisherfolk will lose their livelihood. This is a golden region for fisheries. Fish come here to breed and grow and then migrate to other areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Pomfret is the state fish of Maharashtra but the source is in Gujarat. Ghol is a state fish of Gujarat but the source is Maharashtra. The maximum impact of Vadhavan Port will be on fishermen of Palghar and Dahanu."...