[ad_1]
Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Now, as the government-appointed expert committee begins its assessment of the impact of Vizhinjam port on nearby coastal areas, the ghost of a report put together by M D Kudale, who helms the panel, is likely to cause discomfort.
His report suggested, as early as 2010, that coastal erosion and accretion are inevitable impacts of port development.
The report resurfaced after 128 residents, who lost their homes to coastal erosion 20 kilometres north of where the Vizhinjam port is slated to come up, submitted it before the High Court. Subsequently, the court had, on January 9, directed the Kudale committee to consult with the petitioners.
Kudale’s 2010 report is the outcome of an extensive study on coastal erosion conducted around different ports in the country including Ennore port (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam port (Andhra Pradesh), Paradip port (Orissa), and Old Mangalore port (Karnataka). According to the report , breakwaters and other largescale port structures can greatly affect local wave conditions, currents, and sediment transport processes, and this, in turn, can cause significant changes in the configuration of adjacent shorelines.
The report further states that this impact is more prominent on coastlines having high littoral drift (transportation of sediments along a coast parallel to the shoreline). According to various studies, the Thiruvananthapuram coast has seen the highest littoral drift in the country. Kerala (46%) also reports the second-highest coastal erosion in the country, according to a study conducted by the National Centre for Coastal Research. The government was convinced that port development would not cause coastal erosion. But they decided to appoint the four-member expert committee to pacify the protesters who had obstructed the construction of the port during the second half of 2022. However, coastal experts have long urged for a comprehensive study on coastal erosion and accretion around breakwater construction for ports.
“Studies have shown that Thiruvananthapuram has the highest littoral drift in the country. This fact is mentioned in the Environment Impact Assessment report. It indicates that coastal erosion is inevitable on one side of any breakwater construction,” said A J Vijayan, a petitioner against the project. 
Even the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology, appointed by Adani Vizhinjam Port Limited to study the matter, admitted that there is coastal erosion and accretion in areas around the Vizhinjam site. But it refrains from linking the phenomenon to port construction.
Since work on the port began in 2015, Poonthura, Valiyathura, and Shankhumukham areas north of the site have seen coastal erosion, while Poovar, and Adimalathura areas in the s outh have seen high accretion.
Meanwhile, the government has announced the terms of reference, which is essential for the committee to start functioning, four months after the committee was formed. The announcement came after the government gave an affidavit regarding the committee in the ongoing case. The committee has four months to submit the interim report and six months to submit the final report.
[ad_2]
Source link
