Date: 10/10/2022

Relevance: GS-2: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Key Phrases: Vizhinjam port project, Fisherfolk, Deep-water multi-purpose, Coastal erosion, Shoreline, Morphological changes, Breakwater, Irreversibly destroyed ecology, Major international shipping routes.

Why in News?

• Protests at Vizhinjam Port raise deeper questions about the future of fisherfolk.

Context:

• The ongoing protest of fisherfolk for the past three months against an upcoming port project in Vizhinjam, Kerala raises some important questions about the project.
• The Kerala government’s attempts at placating the angry fishing community at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram and quelling the widespread protests against the under-construction Vizhinjam seaport have failed so far.
• The community has put forward six other demands:
  • Rehabilitation of families who lost their homes to sea erosion,
  • Effective steps to mitigate coastal erosion,
  • Financial assistance to fisherfolk on days weather warnings are issued,
  • Compensation to families of those who lose their lives in fishing accidents,
  • Subsidised kerosene,
  • A mechanism to dredge the Muthalappozhi fishing harbour in Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram district.

Vizhinjam port project:

• The Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is an ambitious project taken up by Government of Kerala.
• It is touted as a “dream project and a game changer for the fortunes of Kerala”.
• It was announced as a fast-track project in 2009 though actual work began much later.
• The key advantage of the site is the availability of naturally deep draught and proximity to the East-West shipping channel.
• The Kerala government gave the contract for the construction and running of the port to Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd., based on the concession agreement, for 40 years to begin with.

Issues with Vizhinjam port project:

• Fisherfolk concerns:
  • The fisherfolk raised their concerns regarding the likely adverse impact of the project on their homesteads and livelihoods at the very beginning.
  • Some 350 families that lost homes to coastal erosion last year, and those living in makeshift schools and camps are just a foretaste of things to come if coastal erosion and extreme cyclones continue unabated.
  • The coast is more than a mere dwelling place for the fisherfolk. It is as much living space as well as an occupational space used for landing, selling, salting, smoking, curing or drying of fish and tying up boats and fishing implements and doing maintenance work, among others.
  • For them, the erosion of the shoreline is not merely the disappearance of the land but the loss of a natural space that nurtured their livelihood, habitation and culture.
• Coastal erosion:
  • During 1989-2006 (prior to the project), major accretion leading to an increase in beach width had been happening in some villages, whereas significant erosion of 60-120 m was observed in villages located immediately north of Vizhinjam harbour. Several studies confirm this broad beachline dynamics.
  • The latest analysis of shoreline changes up to the year 2020 reaffirms the fact that villages north of Vizhinjam port have been witnessing increased erosion, whereas areas south of it have had accretion.
• Morphological changes:
  • An important requirement for the Vizhinjam port is the reclamation of about 66 ha of coastal waters and the construction of a 3.2-km-long breakwater. A study argues that this large intervention has the potential to cause major shoreline shifts and other morphological changes in the region.
• Irreversibly destroyed ecology:
  • A further danger is an irreversibly destroyed ecology, triggering deadlier hazards of nature.
  • Ports without adequate safeguards in a highly delicate ecology unleash destruction on marine life and the livelihoods of the local population.
  • Visakhapatnam and Chennai show how siltation, coastal erosion and accretion can be exacerbated by the deepening of harbour channels in ecologically sensitive areas; this risk is just greater for Vizhinjam by an order of magnitude.

Why is the Vizhinjam project considered important?

• Located on the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula, just 10 nautical miles from the major international sea route and east-west shipping axis, and with a natural water depth of more than 20 m within a nautical mile from the coast, the Vizhinjam port is likely to play a pivotal role in the maritime development of the country and Kerala.
• The commissioning of the port is expected to leverage the growth of 17 minor ports in the State along with creating thousands of employment opportunities.
• The port will have 30 berths, and will be able to handle giant “megamax” container ships.
• The Adani Group has said the ultramodern port, located close to major international shipping routes, will boost India’s economy.
• The port is expected to compete with Colombo, Singapore, and Dubai for a share of trans-shipment traffic.
• The government claims the project has a huge strategic significance and additionally, the potential to contribute to the growth of the state’s economy.

Steps needed to resolve this Issue:

• There should be proper mechanism to provide compensation to the displaced people and restores their rights.
• The gross neglect of the damage to invaluable marine biodiversity must be redressed with an acceptable EIA, including inputs from experts in biology, ecology, and oceanography.
• There needs to be an independent assessment of safeguards that port authorities must put in place as a precondition for any further construction.
• On involuntary dislocation of people that society is willing to accept in return for financial gains, the project must allocate funds in recognition of people’s centuries-old right to the sea and its resources.
• Corrective action by way of hard-engineering solutions such as seawalls and soft responses such as vegetation is in order.

Way Forward:

• To dismiss the concerns of fisherfolk as empirically unfounded and brand them as anti-development is the easiest, obdurate thing to do. In contrast, ordering a robust, unbiased assessment to better understand the increasing intensity of sea erosion leading to the destruction of the lives of fisherfolk demands statesmanship and openness to course correction, if required.
• The state government needs to be sensitive to the concerns of a social group that continues to be on the margins of the much-touted Kerala model of development.

Source:  Indian Express 

Mains Question:

Q. Why fisherfolk in Kerala are protesting Adani’s under-construction Vizhinjam port? Suggest measures needed to resolve this issue.