The Maharashtra government appears to be determined to build a port in eco-fragile Vadhavan against the wishes of the local people and in violation of coastal regulation zone rules. The obsession of the present governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra for gigantic infrastructure networks is well known. That these projects often steamroll other concerns is also public knowledge. The latest such is the resurrection of a port plan in Maharashtra that had been rejected in its totality two decades ago. The State is now again talking seriously about building the port. About 125 kilometres from Mumbai, Dahanu taluk is within striking distance of urbanisation. It is a coastal green belt that is so peaceful that the word sylvan could have been coined for it. Its cosmopolitan population includes the fishing community, tribal people and Zoroastrian Iranis. Their livelihoods are sustained by fishing, chikoo orchards, agriculture and die-making. But Dahanu’s coastal location, its proximity to Mumbai and its easy access to rail and road networks turned out to be its nemesis. As industrialisation crept towards it, the residents realised that their lands and livelihoods were under threat. As it is Dahanu’s coastline is fragile, and so it is extra vulnerable to erosion by the sea. On February 19, 1991, Dahanu was notified (or classified) under the Indian Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The CRZ bans new construction and development activities within 500 metres of the high-tide line. Four months later, Dahanu was declared an eco-fragile area by a government notification of June 20, 1991. Made under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the notification restricts the development of industries, mining operations and other development work in the region. Despite these safety nets, the area was still industrialised rapidly. This led the environmentalist Bittu Sehgal to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 1994 in which he submitted that the notifications be implemented. The court appointed the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to look into it. On the basis of its report, the court upheld the June 20, 1991, notification, popularly known as Dahanu notification. It forbade change of land use in the region.