From natural calamities to pandemic lockdown and shortage of granite, the Vizhinjam international port project has missed deadlines multiple times and every time they have approached the Kerala government with a request to extend the commissioning date. Now, Adani Ports is claiming that the ongoing protest by residents and fish workers has stalled the work for several days and is demanding compensation for the losses it suffered.
The Rs 7,700 crore International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport project is being constructed at Vizhinjam coast in Thiruvananthapuram by Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd (AVPPL), the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit of Adani Ports. The port was slated to start operations on December 3, 2019 as per the agreement signed on August 17, 2015.
The AVPPL recently sent a letter to the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) demanding a compensation of Rs 78.7 crore for the days it lost due to the protest and damage to the property. The VISL recommended that the money be recouped from the Latin Catholic Church, which is spearheading the protest by fish workers.
Kerala Minister for Ports, Ahammed Devarkovil, on October 9 said that the state government won't accept the recommendation of the VISL to levy the loss from the church. The protesters, most of them hailing from the community of fishers, are opposing the project because of livelihood concerns and the massive coastal erosion, which they allege is due to port construction activities. The office of the Ports Minister Ahammed Devarkovil is set to hold a meeting with representatives of AVPPL on Thursday to deliberate on the crisis and ways to take the project ahead in the backdrop of the agitation. The government recently formed a panel to study if the port construction is causing any coastal erosion. A recent study observed that there is no correlation between port activities and coastal erosion in Vizhinjam.
The AVVPL in 2018, had sought an extension of 16 months for completing the first phase of the port project citing a force majeure event - the Ockhi cyclone in November 2017. They had also cited scarcity of granite and protest by the local population for the delay. The deadline was pushed to August 3, 2020
In 2021, it again approached the Kerala government seeking another three years to complete the project. It again cited natural calamities and natural calamities for the delay. In May 2021 cyclone Tauktae had inflicted heavy damage on the infrastructure washing away 176m of a breakwater which was under construction.
As per the revised schedule (announced by the minister in the Assembly earlier this year) it was to be completed by December 2023. However, Adani Ports has claimed that the work on the project was stalled due to the protest which began in Aug*hst by fisherfolk who are demanding halting the construction work until a scientific study on reasons behind coastal erosion is complete and relief measures including rehabilitation.
According to reports, in the last five years the area has witnessed massive coastal erosion with 200 m lost in Valiyathura. Around 200 houses were damaged by rough seas until 2018.
Acute shortage of granite has been cited as a major reason for the delay in completing the project. The breakwater construction requires around 70 lakh tonnes of granite and as of March this year the company could source only 35 lakh tonnes. The breakwater is a wall of rocks to protect the port infrastructure from waves. The total length of breakwater is 3.1 kilometers.
Kerala had written to Tamil Nadu in August last year seeking assistance for the unhindered transportation of granite boulders for the project. Ahammad Devarkovil told the Assembly in August 2021 that some district collectors in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were preventing trucks that were transporting granite for the project. The Adani group had sought clearance for 19 quarries for ensuring availability of granite, but the clearance was provided for only three.