CHENNAI: The proposed move by the Centre to establish a new international container port in Kanyakumari will be an “ecological nightmare” and it will “impoverish the local communities besides harm the region's rich fisheries and agricultural economies,” claim the People's Movement against Kanyakumari-Kovalam International Container and Transshipment Terminal.
A delegation of fishers and farmers from Kanyakumari who on Tuesday toured Ennore by road and boat via the Kosasthalai River to verify the truth behind the claims of benefits accruing from the Sagarmala programme under which an international container port is proposed to be built in Kanyakumari-Kovalam-Manakudi, have come to the opinion that port proposal will not be good for their region. “Ennore and the degraded state of Kosasthalaiyar is proof that the Sagarmala scheme for a new international container port in Kanyakumari will be an ecological nightmare. It will impoverish local communities and harm the region's rich fisheries and agricultural economies,” Prabha Fernando and R. Parthasarathy, chairman and convenor, respectively, of the Struggle Committee, said.
“In Ennore, we saw that Kamarajar port and other industries have encroached on thousands of acres of salt pans. The port's activities have silted up the river and greatly harmed fisher livelihood. The port has flattened the sand dunes near the sea and this has led to salinity intrusion into the aquifers,” they claimed in a statement. They did not want Kanyakumari to become another Ennore. "If the government is sincere about development without destruction, it should first demonstrate that by removing the encroachments and restoring the river, fisheries and farming in Ennore. We urge the government to drop the port proposal," they urged.
