Explained | Why are the fisherfolk demanding to stop the construction of Vizhinjam port project

The story so far: Vizhinjam, a small coastal village that lies around 20 km south of Thiruvananthapuram, is on the boil for the past two weeks with fisherfolk and their families laying siege to the under-construction Vizhinjam International Seaport, from both sea and land. According to fisherfolk, the port work has aggravated the coastal erosion along the coast of Thiruvananthapuram. A study ‘shoreline assessment for Kerala coast’ conducted by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Society of Integrated Coastal Management, and the Ministry of Environment and Forest by assessing the shoreline changes for a period of 38 years from 1972 to 2010 in Kerala, had noted that the erosion is minimum at Thrissur and maximum at Thiruvananthapuram, even before the port construction. The latest report of the expert committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal and Shoreline Monitoring Cell formed to monitor the shoreline changes in the project area — within 10 km on either side of the port — observed that erosion in spots such as Valiyathura, Shanghumugham, and Punthura remains the same before and after the commencement of the port construction. Maximum wave height recorded along Vizhinjam coast post-Ockhi Average wave height during: normal rough weather period – 2.5 m; normal fair-weather condition - 1 m Cyclone Ockhi - 7.29 m Depression over Arabian Sea - 6.2 m Cyclone Luban - 3.62 m Cyclone Vayu - 6.13 m Cyclone Maha - 6.13 m Cyclone Amphan - 4.99 m Cyclone Nisarga - 4.5 m Low pressure under the influence of cyclonic circulation - 8.84 m Deep depression over East Central Bay of Bengal- 4.5 m Cyclone Gati - 2.92 m Cyclone Tauktae - 9.44 m Source: National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India The report noted that the relatively high number of cyclones formed over the Arabian sea after cyclone Ockhi in 2017 was the main reason for the recent erosion and accretion and that the impact of the port activity on either side of the coast had less significance till date.