Tamil Nadu

Citizens, activists oppose Adani port expansion in Chennai, say #StopAdaniSaveChennai

A subsidiary of the Adani Group applied for environment clearance in 2019 for the expansion of the port at the cost of Rs 53,031 crore.
Citizens, activists oppose Adani port expansion in Chennai, say #StopAdaniSaveChennai
Citizens, activists oppose Adani port expansion in Chennai, say #StopAdaniSaveChennai
Written by:
TNM Staff

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s (TNPCB) call for a public hearing on the expansion of Adani group’s Kattupalli Port in Tiruvallur district has evoked sharp responses. Environmentalists, social activists, and climate activists have urged the Tamil Nadu government to reconsider the project and have demanded that the expansion plan be stopped. Those opposing the project have contended that the expansion will impact the Ennore creek, Pulicat lake, Kosasthalaiyar river, Buckingham canal, other water bodies, mangroves, and bird sanctuaries in a 15 km radius.   

A tweetstorm was held on August 18 where many citizens and activists came together to remind the state’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government that they had promised in their manifesto that the port expansion by Marine Infrastructure Development and Private Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), would not be allowed. Tweets used the hashtag #StopAdaniSaveChennai and demanded that the DMK government declare the shoreline as high eroding, which will then make the port expansion illegal. For years now, fisherfolk in the area have been protesting against the expansion. 

Read: Visakhapatnam: Workers clash with police at Adani port, demand better wages and jetty 

Chennai-based naturalist Yuvan Aves who has been vocal against the Adani port expansion project said that Pulicat is Tamil Nadu's largest water body. “Destroying it is the greatest climate risk for Chennai. The Adani port is by far Chennai's biggest climate threat,” he said.

Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai-based writer and social activist wrote, “Erosion triggered by Adani Kattupalli Port has drastically altered shoreline, hurt fishers. Proposed expansion will redraw Tamil Nadu's map." Nityanand is a part of the Save Pulicat Campaign.

Nityanand said that the state is fully within its right to scrap the project. “The project is illegally located. It is within 10 km of the Pulicat Wildlife Sanctuary and hence within the prohibited zone for polluting industries. It is also in a high eroding coastline that is off limits for port establishment or expansion under CRZ Notification. Why has the state government not scrapped the Adani expansion plan?” he asked.

Climate activist Disha Ravi and singer TM Krishna also joined the tweetstorm. Krishna wrote that he hoped Chief Minister MK Stalin would keep his word.

Environmental health researcher and research coordinator Vishvaja Sambath said that the proposed expansion project will affect the livelihood of women fisherfolk. 

Bollywood actor Dia Mirza also urged MK Stalin to stand by his 2021 electoral promise. "It endangers 35 lakh lives,” she tweeted.

According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) prepared in 2021, the port is proposed to be expanded from its current area of 330 acres to 6,111 acres, including 2000 acres reclaimed by dumping dredged sand into the sea. It also includes 2290.93 acres of government land and 1515.52 acres of private land.

The public hearing regarding the project was scheduled to be held on September 5. However, it was later postponed. “Representations have been received to conduct public hearings at more than one location so as to enable the public to express their views about the project. On the basis of the above representations, the public hearing that was announced for September 5 for the project of M/s. Marine Infrastructure Developer Private Limited, Kattupalli Village, Ponneri Taluk, Tiruvallur District stands postponed,” the Tiruvallur District Collector said. 

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