Dileep V Kumar, Thiruvananthapuram, August 20
The fisherfolk protest continues to brew against one of India’s strongest businessmen Gautam Adani, from the coastal village Vizhinjam. The protest, which is entering day six, against the Vizhinjam Seaport project is proceeding despite the talk between the state government and protestors was said to be ‘fruitful’. The protest is centered on a seven-point demand which includes halting the much-touted seaport project which is being called the ‘port of the future.
“It might be the port of the future. But our future looks bleak. The project has only brought loss to the fisherfolk. Our coastline has been eaten away. There is widespread coastal erosion. The sea has become rougher which in turn leads to incidents of boats getting capsized and even deaths,” said George, a fisherman who is one of the protestors.
According to Mariyam, the very project had destroyed their lives as the promise of rehabilitation and compensation turned out to be hollow ones.
“One of the demands we listed in our seven-point charter is the speedy implementation of the rehabilitation package announced by the state government and extending it to all affected families. The government should also provide us with temporary, rent-free accommodation for those who lost their houses,” said Mariyam.
The Latin Catholic-backed protestors also demand that a proper study on the negative impacts of the Vizhinjam project should have to be conducted. The panel thus formed to study should also include members being proposed by the fisherfolk.
At the same time, on Friday, the action council of fishers led by the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram held talks with Fisheries Minister V Abdurahiman. Though the council said that the discussion was generally ‘fruitful’, it decided to continue with the protest until all seven demands made by the fishers were met in full.
It is learned that the minister had promised that discussions would be held with the Chief Minister within a week for addressing the said demands.
Meanwhile, the district administration has also sprung into action to reconcile the protesting fishers. It has decided to approach the state government to restore free of cost distribution of kerosene to registered fishing boats till the completion of tetrapod laying works along the coast.
Fishers’ arguments hold water or not?
The National Institute of Ocean Technology in its report on the Shoreline Change Analysis of Vizhinjam Coast identifies major spots of erosion at Valliyathura, Poonthura, and Edapadu except for the fact that the entire coastal stretch faced erosion during natural calamities such as Ockhi cyclone and high wave activities. The shoreline change study has been carried out using beach profile analysis from 2015-2018.
Earlier in 2020, the Fisheries Department itself had corroborated that studies are there to show that breakwaters and other structures like ports can have an effect on local wave conditions, and currents and could configure the adjacent shoreline.
In the case of Vizhinjam, the fishermen had complained that change is visible in wave conditions and shoreline.
The then Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma had informed the Assembly that as accidents at Vizhinjam harbor are on the rise a comprehensive study will have to be conducted. The minister then entrusted the Pune-based Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) to carry out a coastal hydrodynamics study.
“As per reports, the sea waves attain directional change after they hit the tetrapod laid as part of the VISL project. This is said to be creating difficulties in the harbor base. The study conducted by L&T Infrastructure Engineering Limited before the construction of VISL had ruled out any incidence of change in local wave conditions or currents. But to address the concerns of the locals a study by CWPRS has been mulled,” said Mercykutty then.
At the same time, arguments are also there that the Latin Catholic is using the fishers to pressurize the centre/state governments to meet their demands. There are allegations from the right-wing supporters that the church-sponsored stir witnessed at Koodamkulam nuclear plant and Thoothukudi Sterlite Plant, is being replicated in Vizhinjam also. They also alleged that the protest is foreign-funded one.
“The project was started after various studies. How could a community protest against the same all of a sudden claiming that it is affecting their lives?” reads one of the posts against the ongoing protest.
It was on December 5, 2015, that the construction of the Vizhinjam seaport began. Though the Adani Group promised to complete the works by December 3, 2019, it got postponed several times due to various reasons. Now, as per the revised construction schedule submitted by the group in June 2022, the first phase of the port will be completed in December 2024. However, the state government is of the stance that this should be completed by the end of 2022 or at the beginning of 2023.
