Stir puts upcoming port project in Vizhinjam in troubled waters
Fishermen swear that due to large-scale construction and breakwater channels their livelihood was hit badly and the earlier promises of rehabilitation were not met. They cite rough seas, destroyed houses, disappearance of many small beaches and dwindling catch to stress their point
“If poor farmers can force the government to its knees in Delhi, Adani is no big target for us,” says 42-year-old Agnes T, 42, sitting among the protesters near the upcoming Vizhinjam transhipment port (20 km south of Kerala capital) in Mulloor village. Hailing from a fishing village 40 km from the project site, she has been at the protest venue for over a week.
“Our priests herded us here and we will go by their words. Without a shepherd, there are no sheep,” she said.She has no idea about the upcoming port or climate change but she swears by her church.
For last two weeks it has become a ritual for protesters like her to break huge barriers put up by police and barge into the port construction site and hoist yellow-tinged white flags of their church atop all port installations.
A big posse of policemen deployed at the site remain mute spectators. “Despite grave provocations we have been told strictly to keep restraint,” said a middle-level police officer, who did not wish to be named. The officer pleaded helplessness saying majority of the assembled are women and children and often protesters use them as shield. Some of the protestors even threatened to jump in the sea if force was applied on them, said the officer.
“It is a do or die battle for us. We are not against development but it should not be at the cost of poor fishermen. If big projects like this come, fishing community will vanish,” said father Theodosius Decruz, convener of the movement. On Sunday, pastoral letters were read in all churches of the Latin Catholic churches urging the government to find a speedy solution to the woes of fisherfolk.
Interestingly, natives of Vizhijam are not in the favour of the stir. “People are eagerly looking for development of the area. It is sad to disrupt such a mega project at the eleventh hour. We feel church is scared that it will lose control over poor fishermen so they have been pushed to struggle,” said a native Gopalakrishnan Nair.
But fishermen swear that due to large-scale construction and breakwater channels their livelihood was hit badly and the earlier promises of rehabilitation were not met. They cite rough seas, destroyed houses, disappearance of many small beaches and dwindling catch to stress their point. They swear the upcoming project multiplied their woes: construction of groynes, artificial sea wall and deep dredging increased coastal erosion.
But Adani group, which is building the country’s first mother port, says it is unfair to put all problems on its head and disrupt work like this. Despite the interim order of the high court to maintain law and order police failed to remove protestors from the site, it lamented. “We are losing ₹2 crore daily due to stalled work. The protests hit us when we were cruising at a higher speed. We are here for development and the project will change the face of south India and the country will enjoy crucial position on global shipping map,” said CEO of the Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Limited Rajesh Jha.
There were several rounds of talks but all failed to yield results. “The work of the port project is at a crucial stage now. Any attempt to scuttle it will be a great injustice to the future generation also. We have contributed much to reach this stage and there is no plan to stall its works,” chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said in the assembly last week.
“We cannot blame the port work alone for sea incursion and depletion of some beaches, including Shangumukham and Valiyathura. Climate change also played its role,” he said adding the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal had given nod to the project and rejected claims of severe costal degradation after several studies. He said the agitation was well- planned and most protesters were not from Vizhinjam.
Why fishermen oppose it?
Around 200 families are huddled in a cement godown in Valiyathura, 15 km away from the port site, for last four years after Ockhi cyclone in 2018 and subsequent sea erosions ravaged their houses.”Flats, five cent land and job to the affected, many tall promises were made but all vanished in thin air,” said one of the residents.
“We are also human beings but they treat us worse than cattle.Over 500 families are living in such godowns and temporary shelters. The upcoming project added to the pressure on land and many coastal dwelling units were swept away,” said Brjith (62), one of the inmates of the godown.
Though her house on the beach was partially destroyed she said her ailing husband was not willing to come out of the house. “He says sea gave us everything, let it take over lives also,” she said, adding 20km of the coastline was affected due to heavy dredging.
Fishermen like them say they agreed to the project earlier but they realised its gravity when they come across its impact on their day-to-day life. “Proper rehabilitation and care should have assuaged the hurt feelings of fishermen. But everyone turned a blind eye towards it,” said Babu Immanuvel, one of the protesters. After working for three decades in sea, he is now engaged with church works in Anchuthengu, another costal village in the district.
Meanwhile, the Adani group says it is unfair to blame them for natural calamities like Ockhi. “We also lost badly in Ockhi as most of our installations were swept away in high tides and winds. Most of the displaced were due to Ockhi. How can they put whole blame on us. We agree to some of the concerns of fishermen but how can they stop development for which they are real beneficiaries,” asked Adani ports CEO adding their study showed catch increased by 20% after work started.
At the protest site, Latin Catholic church influence is everywhere. Small groups of protesters are manned and controlled by priests and nuns. “True we take lead. Poor people have immense faith in the church and we cannot leave them to their cruel destiny like this,” one of the priests father Joney Puthenveetil said. “Though we are in the midst of boulders and rocks not a single stone was pelted,” he took credit for what he called peaceful protest.
Protesters have charted seven demands to end the stir. First is to stall all works and conduct a fresh environment impact study, second immediate rehabilitation of affected families, third effective steps to mitigate sea erosion and tetrapod sea walls along coast, fourth financial help to them when weather warnings are issued, fifth more kerosene at subsidised rate, sixth compensation to the dead and those who lost their boats and nets and finally controlled dredging near Muthalapozhy which led to many mishaps.
Importance of Vizhinjam port
Conceived almost three decades ago, the project was mired in several controversies before being awarded to Adani group under a PPP agreement. Work for the ₹7525 crore project began at 2015 and deadline for the first phase was 2020.
But Ockhi, Covid pandemic and non-availability of stone boulders delayed the project and now it is expected to be commissioned by October 2023. Initially left parties opposed the project but came around once they assumed power in 2016.
A natural port with 20 metre depth and 12 nautical miles close to international ship channel the project is expected to be a game changer for the country, said Adani group. As of now the country depends on Colombo, Singapore and Dubai mother ports for transshipment of heavy cargos incurring extra cost and time and once Vizhinjam, is commissioned it will bridge the gap. Once it is fully functional the largest mother ship of the world can be anchored here easily, said port officials adding five mother ships can be berthed at a time in Vizhinjam.
“For us every minute counts. We have done a number of corporate social responsibility schemes and even started imparting job skill training to youngsters of the area,” said CEO Rajesh Jha. He said the National Green Tribunal team visits the site every six months to monitor the ongoing work and study its impact.