Vizhinjam project fails to enthuse fishermen

By T. Nandakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 7. The Government decision to go ahead with the ambitious Rs. 2,500-crore project for construction of a commercial port at Vizhinjam has reignited apprehensions among a section of the local fishermen that the port would prove disastrous for fishing operations in the area.

While the Government has made it clear that the project would not necessitate displacement of people, the fishermen fear that the port facilities would block direct access to the sea and affect their livelihood. A section of the local populace is already up in arms against the shoddy rehabilitation of families evicted for the fishing harbour project which commenced in 1966. They fear the port would also contribute to further delay in the work on the fishing harbour.

The Minister for Ports, Mr. M.V. Raghavan, has clarified that the fish landing centre at Adimalathura would be expanded but the fishermen are not convinced. About 600 evicted families are up in arms against the lack of basic facilities at the townships built to rehabilitate them. Many of the houses are not electrified and lack drinking water and drainage facilities.

The fishing harbour project has been dragging on at a snail's pace with labour and rehabilitation problems contributing to the delay and heavy cost escalation. While Government sources maintain that land acquisition is the main bottleneck, the locals allege that vested interests among officials are deliberately retarding the fishing harbour project.

The first proposal for the development of the Vizhinjam port was mooted in 1945 by the Diwan of the erstwhile Travancore State, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer. Envisaged as an all-weather port with a workshop for big ships, it also planned to develop the Pallichal canal and link the harbour with the Vellayani lake. With the merger of Travancore with Kochi, the project fell through.

Another project for a fishing harbour was prepared in 1957 by the Pattom Thanu Pillai ministry. This too did not materialise. Finally work on the project started in 1966. In the first two stages, a 1000-metre breakwater and approach roads were completed. The remaining work includes the construction of a wharf, auction hall, quay, ice plants and gear shed.

Government officials say that the work was held up time and again as a result of reluctance of the fishermen to move out to the two townships at Thennoorkonam and Pulloorkonam. But local people assert that they have not been issued compensation for the acquired houses though the land value was assessed in 1985.

With its close proximity to the international shipping route between the U.K., West Asia, the Gulf and the Far East, Vizhinjam has the potential to be developed into a major container transhipment port like Colombo and Singapore. A natural harbour landlocked on two sides, it has a natural depth of 16 to 20 metres within one nautical mile from the shore. It is pointed out that with suitable extension of the existing breakwater, Vizhinjam could be developed as the deepest port on the west coast.

In 1995, the Hyderabad-based Kumar Energy Corporation had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the then UDF Government for the development of a port as also for setting up a 400-MW thermal plant in its vicinity. The port, among other things, was to be used for the import of large quantities of naphtha needed for the power plant.

But the proposal came up against the first major roadblock with Mr. A.K. Antony, who replaced Mr. K. Karunakaran as the Chief Minister during the last one year of the UDF rule, taking a firm stand that all the projects with private participation should be awarded through the competitive bidding route.

The LDF Government which followed took nearly three years to make up its mind on the matter and the Kumar group's proposal was finally cleared by the State Cabinet in January 1999. By then, the plan for the thermal plant had been dropped as it could not get the fuel linkage. Later in November the same year, the Government signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the company for the development of the port. But since then, the project has been in limbo with even the preliminary exercises for land acquisition not taken up.

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