Fishermen, residents of north Chennai and activists vehemently opposed the third phase of expansion of Kamarajar Port in Ennore at a public hearing held on Friday.
They raised issues including loss of livelihood, irreparable environmental damage and lack of proper rehabilitation for affected fishermen.
Kadalora Makkal Paathukaapu Iyakkam’s Sasikumar said sea erosion was already a major problem in north Chennai due to the ports. Dumping boulders along the shoreline is not a solution.
“Ports don’t keep their promises and we don’t think the Kamarajar port will keep its word to enrich the shoreline,” he said.
Activist A. Saravanan said the port was planning to create space for additional berths by digging up land.
“They said 25 per cent of the earth would be dumped back, but haven’t said anything about the remaining earth. If the Ennore creek is closed, it would affect the livelihood of six villages in that area. They have violated norms during phase II construction,” he added.
The Port Master Plan envisages the development of 22 berths in addition to associated dredging connected with deepening of the approach channel, harbour basin and berth areas. Kamarajar Port commenced its phase I operation with six berths for handling coal, export/import of automobiles and marine liquid terminal (MLT).
As part of phase II of its development, six more berths for handling containers, LNG, coal and multipurpose cargo are under construction.
KPL has proposed to begin work on ten berths so as to meet the traffic demand at the right time. Phase III comprises automobile import/export terminals, container berths, marine liquid terminal, IOC captive jetty, dry bulk terminals, multi cargo berth and associated dredging of 33 million cubic metres.
