Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday lent his support to the voices being raised against the expansion of the port at Kattupalli, located north of Chennai.
In a tweet, he said: “The Port on Kattupalli Barrier island is illegal but Modi Govt is ensuring its construction. The handover of our country to his crony capitalist friends continues.” The MP also shared a screenshot of an article in an online publication on the port expansion. Many political parties and environmentalists have raised concerns about the proposed expansion.
The port is 2 km from the Pulicat lake and can damage the lake and the marsh ecosystem around it. The expansion will lead to fishermen losing their livelihoods and Chennai getting flooded, as the area of the vast lake will have depleted, say activists.
Recently, the members of the Save Pulicat Campaign had even started an art campaign against the proposal.