Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi visited Ennore on Monday morning and surveyed the port area to get a sense of the nature of encroachments and violations of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules taking place there.
Speaking to The Hindu after the visit, Ms. Kanimozhi said, “I had written to the Expert Appraisal Committee before and I will write to them again to alert them about the encroachments on the Ennore creek and the problems we will face if the land is taken over for further development and the existing size of the creek is reduced. Some 10,000 fishermen depend on it for their livelihood. There is already a big problem of pollution due to the dumping of fly ash by thermal power corporations. All the water bodies here are polluted and people can’t live there.”
The proposal of the Kamarajar Port Ltd. (KPL) for expansion of port operations, including construction of warehouses and other facilities in Ennore, is coming up for consideration before the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee on November 29-30.
Activists raise concerns
Activists associated with the Save Ennore Creek campaign, in a release on Monday raised concerns about modification of the High Tide Line to suit the requirements of the port authorities.
“Public records raise serious doubts on whether the Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS), Anna University, has altered the High Tide Line in Ennore Creek to accommodate its client, Kamarajar Port’s proposal for a controversial ‘Free Trade Warehouse Zone’ inside the wetland. The discrepancy in HTL is evident when IRS’ High Tide Line map prepared for TANGEDCO in 2014-15 is compared with what it has prepared this year for its current client, Kamarajar Port,” they also said.
IRS Anna University’s map for Kamarajar Port makes it appear that the HTL has receded freeing up about 250 metres as real estate in this area, the release further said. The 2015 North Chennai TPS map shows two canals, measuring 400 m and 190 m running through the area demarcated for the construction of a ‘Free Trade Warehouse Zone.’ However, the 2017 KPL map presents the two canals measuring just 160 m and 113m respectively, the release said.
Ms. Kanimozhi too expressed shock over the alleged tampering with of the High Tide Line.
She said, “I’ll ensure that the matter is raised ahead of the Winter session of Parliament beginning December 15.”
Reason for redrawing
A 1996 Government of India-approved Coastal Zone Management Plan declares KPL’s proposed project area as a ‘No Development Zone’ as it fell within the HTL. However, responding to queries, S. S. Ramakrishnan, Director of IRS, Anna University told The Hindu that the HTL could change in case of “anthropogenic interference” [man-made changes to natural systems] and the maps produced for KPL were based on an in-depth site-specific survey undertaken by them.
“Our redrawing of the HTL has included 87 acres of coastal zone in the vicinity of the proposed port project within the CRZ where no development can be done. We’ve done more precise work now due to satellite imagery and a correction of 1.5 acres was made in the map placing it outside of the HTL,” he said.
The IRS has undertaken redrawing of the HTL based on remote sensing studies for 110 km along the Tamil Nadu coast, which will include mapping of fishermen assets for inclusion in the Coastal Zone Management Plan. But the redrawn High Tide Line is yet to receive the MOEF nod.
