Ramesh Chennithala call for fresh eco study surprises all

This was because the concession agreement for the project has already been signed between Adani ports and the state government. Congress leader and former MLA George Mercier said the home minister could have made it out of misunderstanding. The environment impact study was completed before the finalisation of the terms of reference.

“As per the guidelines of the environment and forest ministry, only one year covering a pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon was needed for the study. In this case, the study was completed in one and a half years covering two pre-monsoon, two monsoon and a post-monsoon season,” Mr Mercier said.

Thiruvananthapuram vicar general Monsignor Eugene H. Pereira said, “We had, in fact, found that the officials had made some deletions in the EIS before publishing it. We had, in fact, apprised this to the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy”.

He said that was one of the reasons why the church had demanded a better rehabilitation package as they were sure that the project would impact the coastline resulting in the loss of livelihood.

“In fact, no further discussions could be held on the rehabilitation package. It could not make much headway as representatives of Latin Catholic Church could not go for further negotiations with the government as some priests were away at a religious retreat,” Fr Pereira said.Vizhinjam Mother Port Action Council leader Elias John said it was virtually impossible for the government to go for a fresh EIS legally. The government would have to go ahead with the project without any further study.