The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment has returned a proposal of Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL) to set up a Coastal Employment Unit (CEU) for not selecting the proposed industrial estate site as per guidelines, violations at KPL, proposals to allow polluting sectors like pharma and chemical units and also for lying that there is no case pending against it in the courts.
Noting that there were violations at the Port, the EAC directed that its Committee will make a site visit and examine the developments at Kamarajar Port “considering several proposals are coming for EAC/TOR (Terms of Reference) in piecemeal manner by various project proponents thereby making it difficult to enumerate environmental impacts individually. There is a need to assess the cumulative impact of all the development activities in the Kamarajar Port region”.
₹217-crore project
KPL submitted before the EAC that the CEU aims at developing ‘port-proximate industrial manufacturing units’ that will lead to reduction in logistic cost and better utilisation of EXIM (export-import) and domestic cargo. The project was proposed to come up at Puzhuthivakkam and Athipattu, in Ennore, at a cost of ₹217 crore. KPL has proposed to house metallurgical, chemical fertilizers, petrochemical-based processing and synthetic organic chemical industries over 326.73 acres.
The EAC, after detailed deliberations, observed that the site selection for the proposed industrial estate was not planned in accordance to the guidelines of the CPCB’s programme on Zoning atlas. “The proponent (KPL) has mentioned that there is no court case pending against them. However, a legal case regarding alleged illegal dumping of dredged material is ongoing before the Hon’ble NGT,” the EAC noted adding that there was also violation reported at Kamarajar Port.
“Polluting sectors like Pharma and Chemical units are planned to be established in the proposed Industrial Estate/Cluster. EAC is of view that proponent shall establish only those industrial units, which are beneficial to local fishermen communities and other non-polluting units and not to establish any highly polluting chemical (pharma, petro etc) units,” the EAC said.
The Committee further directed KPL to redesign the proposal and also disclose the violations and ongoing or pending court cases before the EAC.
