Jakhau demolition: Fishermen say not given prior notice, living on roads now

As reported by The Indian Express, in a mega demolition drive, the district administration of Kutch razed more than 100 “illegal” structures that were a “threat to coastal and national security” in Jakhau — one of the busiest fishing harbours of Gujarat—in Kutch’s Abdasa taluka within 24 hours on October 13.

Addressing a meeting of the displaced fishermen, Gujarat High Court lawyer Anand Yagnik said, “The Supreme Court has already passed a judgement in 2018 that if a structure is illegal it does not mean that you will demolish it. Grant them the permission to legalise it. Collect fine from them, legalise them, ask them to purchase the property at a market value, and if they do so, legalise it.”

According to Yagnik, the demolition of the affected fishermen and others, “was done without following any due process of law”.

“Nobody tells why they are doing it. They say that it is illegal. It is not that they (the fishermen) do not have the permission from the gram panchayat, or do not pay taxes to the panchayat… Moreover, they are not a floating population,” added Yagnik.

Saiyyed Abdul Rehman, 61, a fisherman from Jakhau whose house was demolished, said, “I have been living in Jakhau for the last 40 years or so. I have been paying the taxes and rent for my residence and business to the gram panchayat on time. We were given the notice dated October 7, to evacuate on October 10 stating that they are illegal. However, that notice was delivered to us on October 10 only. The demolition happened on October 13. All of us, whose residences have been demolished, we have been living on roads now.”

“Six months back we were also given a notice asking for residential proof which we,” he added.

Of the various reasons for these demolitions, Coastal Regulation Zone notifications and security reasons are also cited.

To this, Yagnik said, “CRZ notification is meant to provide customary rights for fishermen who are staying by the virtue of their occupation on the seashore. The notification itself is meant to protect their existence and customary right to fish not to destroy that. The CRZ 1992 notification is very clear that if they have an election card and they live near the seashore, they should be allowed to live.”

Convener of Minority Coordination Committee Mujahid Nafees also said that due process of law was not followed before the demolition

“Sufficient time should be given before demolition. In a normal course of action, three notices are given. First notice is given which is followed by second notice given after 15 days. The third notice is the final one, and even after that a month’s time is given for them to keep all their documents. If they fail, then activities like demolition take place,” said Nafees.

“We will serve a notice to the authorities concerned,” added Nafees.

According to Nafees, about 500 residential structures and 180 commercial structures have been demolished in Jakhau.