Fishermen oppose Sagarmala project

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union government's move to industrialize coastal areas as part of the Sagarmala project has met with stiff resistance from the coastal community, particularly the fishermen in the state.
Official sources in the industries department said that the Sagarmala project, with an investment of over Rs 8 lakh crore, proposes setting up of 14 coastal economic zones (CEZs) with industrial corridors and ports.The project also offers a free hand for private players in coastal areas from Gujarat to Kerala.
On December 14, the Union cabinet had approved the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016, replacing the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. The bill will empower major ports to perform with greater efficiency and gives full authority in terms of decision making and in modernizing the institutional structure of the major ports.
The port authority has now been given powers to fix tariff, which will act as a reference tariff for purposes of bidding for public and private sector participation (PPP) projects. So, PPP operators will be free to fix tariff based on market conditions, the offi cial said.
“Governments support corporates and no one is concerned about the livelihood of the people. Now, the Union government is bent on supporting Adani group on the pretext of developing ports across the country. The Sagarmala project, which proposes setting up industrial corridors, 52 new ports and petrochemical region will deplete the vulnerable coastline and will leave the survival of the fishermen community at stake. It will only support real estate majors and industrialists,“ National Fish Workers Forum (NFF) general secretary T Peter said.
“We had held many protests at the national level this month and plan to hold a national campaign by the coas tal community members from West Bengal to Kerala,“ Peter said.
CPM leader and MP A Sampath said that when the Union government proposes major projects such as Sagarmala, with industrial corridors and economic zones along the coast, it was unfortunate that proper discussions were not held with all the stakeholders, including the coastal community.
“Such industrial projects along the coast, with large ports and minor ports open for privatization and trade, will affect the livelihood of the coastal community,“ he said.
Apart from environmental pollution along the coast, it also poses a serious security threat to the country, he added.