Another Kudankulam in the making as churches support anti-port protest in Kerala

New Delhi: In Kochi, churches extended their support to the fishermen protesting at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram against the construction of Adani port. Churches under Kochi-Alappuzha Archdiocese, with support of locals, formed the human chain in a length of 17.5 km.

News agency ANI quoted Jacob G Palackappilly, Deputy Secretary General of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), saying that the request of the protesting fishermen is “genuine”. “Fishermen are asking the Kerala Government to stop the construction works of the Vizhinjam port for the time being and make a scientific study on the impact of the port construction,” he added.

Palackappilly further claimed that seashores especially in Vizhinjam, Shankhumukham, and Valiyathura areas are badly affected by the construction of this port. “All the Catholic churches in Kerala support the protestors at Vizhinjam. This human chain is in the significance of that support,” he said.

Notably, the fishermen are demanding rehabilitation and permanent solution for sea erosion, alleging harm to coastal land during construction.

Why fishermen in Kerala are protesting against Adani Group’s under-construction Vizhinjam port

The biggest demand of the protesters is to stop the construction of the Rs 7,525 crore Adani Group’s Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram and container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam and a proper environment impact study should be done.

The fishing community under the leadership of the Catholic Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram had said the agitation will continue until all their demands are met.

Demands of the fishing community in Kerala

The fishing community has put forward six other demands apart from halting the construction of the Adani port and carrying out a proper environmental impact study. The other demands are:

– 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.

All demands have been accepted by the government except stopping the construction of the port and providing a kerosene subsidy.

Meanwhile, the fishing community also fear that the proximity of Adani Group’s port to the fishing harbour will impact the tranquillity of the sea and fishing.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, addressing the state Assembly in August this year, had said that while the state will ensure that livelihoods of fisherfolks or homes are not affected, it will not concede to the demand to stop the project. “Stopping the Vizhinjam Port project cannot be considered at this point. There will be problems. Such problems in such projects are but natural. What actions are taken to address them is what matters,” he said.

Stopping the project will be an “injustice” to the future generations, the chief minister added.

Another Kudankulam in the making in Kerala as churches extend support to anti-port protest

Churches extending support to the fishing community in Kerala make us recall about protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

Back in 2012, the crackdown on four non-governmental organisations on the charge that they diverted foreign funds intended for social development activities to the anti-nuclear protests in Kudankulam highlighted on the activities of church-based NGOs in southern part of the state.

A special Home Ministry team back then had found that some organisations involved in the protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant had received funds to the tune of over Rs 55 crore from “foreign sources”.

“The special team from the Union Home Ministry visited the areas around Kudankulam and checked the accounts of some organisations, which were involved in the Kudankulam protests. It found that money to the tune of Rs 54 crore for two oganisations and Rs 1.5 crore for another organisation have been received,” he added.

“Some of the NGOs received the money from foreign sources,” the minister of state in the PMO, said without elaborating.

Notably, two of the cases were registered by the CBI, and the two others by the Crime Branch of the Tamil Nadu police.

The crackdown was soon after the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went public with the charge that US non-governmental organisations were behind the agitation, which has stalled work on the nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu.

With inputs from agencies

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