Vizhinjam port runs into rough weather amid protests from fisher community

Members of the local community are at loggerheads over the impact of the Adani group's port project

According to locals in Vizhinjam, 16 km south-west of Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram, the concept of a trans-shipment port in the area was floated way back in the 1990s. Since then, it took more than 15 years for work on the project to begin in 2015. Now, almost seven years later, construction work at the Adani Group’s Rs 7,500-crore project is stalled due to protests from the fisher community led by the powerful Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram.

Protestors allege massive erosion along the shore, affecting their livelihood and lifestyle. The protests started on July 20, but the impact on the construction work began by mid-August after protestors shifted base to the main gate of the port. With this, the state is divided into two, with one supporting the project and the other casting doubts on the intentions of the movement.

Environment activists and the Congress party have come out in full support of the fishermen. At the same time, bodies such as the Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) have reportedly sought an investigation into the role of ports and countries that are expected to suffer huge losses due to the commissioning of Vizhinjam international port. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the ruling party in the state, which has invested in the project, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party at the Centre that has extended viability gap funding, are keeping a distance from the movement.

For those who are supporting the project, the advantages are many, including the depth, which precludes the need for additional dredging. “Around 30 per cent of global cargo is moving through the southern tip of India. Compared to other ports, Vizhinjam has a natural depth of 18.4 metres within one km from the coast, which can handle even the world’s largest mother vessel of 24,500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units),” said Jayakumar, CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport (VISL).

A major advantage of the proposed port is its “half-an-hour or 12 nautical mile” distance from the international shipping channel, compared to half a day for the Kochi International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), owned by Cochin Port Trust and operated by Dubai-based DP World, and three to four days’ time for Mumbai and Mangalore ports.

“At present, around 75 per cent of the Indian cargo is transhipped at Colombo, Dubai, Salalah and Singapore. Our country is suffering a loss of around Rs 2,500 crore on this account,” Jayakumar added. Despite these manifest advantages, the authorities and the company are still unable to convince the local communities.

According to the protesters, heavy coastal erosion was reported on the northern side of the port and sea accretion (accumulation of sand or land mass over time, along coastal regions) was seen in the south after construction began. Fr Eugene H Pereira, vicar general of the archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, believes that lives of at least 50,000 fishermen and their families may be adversely impacted by the port.

Protesters demanded that work should stop until a proper scientific study is done. But a June 2022 study by the National Institute of Ocean Technology in Chennai indicated that erosion was noticed in Shangumugham (600 m), Valiyathura (200 m) and Cheriyathura (100 m) on the northern side of the port. Significantly, the study did not blame the port as a reason for this.

The protestors do not accept this. “They say the construction of the breakwater has reached up to one km, out of 3.1 km. Despite this, we are seeing huge erosion in the area,” said A J Vijayan, founder of National Fishworkers Forum and a former researcher with the International Ocean Institute.

The Adani Group did not respond to emailed questions from <Business Standard> but when asked about the erosion, Jayakumar said there were instances of coastal erosion in Shangumugham and Valiyathura way back in 2003 and 2013, even before the port construction started. Experts indicate that the area has been identified as an erosion hotspot by the government.

Given this past history, Elias John, president, Vizhinjam Mother Port Action Council and a member of the local community, contends that there is no scientific evidence to validate the protestors’ objections.

“Studies have shown so far that coastal erosion has no connection with the construction of the port,” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too said, while promising a detailed study. Protestors are also demanding a rehabilitation package.

A J Vijayan has also pointed to the fact that the feasibility study says that the project is not viable. “No other port in the country will include a real estate component, too, including two luxury hotels, one shopping mall, one convention centre and one residential complex,” he said.

The Kerala government’s investment in the project is around Rs 5,071 crore, while that of the Adani Group is Rs 2,454 crore. But protestors cite a low internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (difference between financial benefits and costs in current money value). The IRR is estimated to be 3 per cent for Kerala and 15 per cent for Adani and also a negative NPV (net present value) for the state government based on the feasibility study.

There are dissenters within the government, too. “There is an economic IRR and social value that should be factored in, it includes jobs and economic uplift of the area during the time period of the project. This has to be included before calculating both IRR and NPV,” said a government official.

He added that since the project is not viable, the concept of viability gap was mooted. Of the total project cost, nearly 40 per cent (20 per cent each by the state and the Centre) or Rs 1,635 crore comes as viability gap funding.

As the familiar story of development and investment versus local rights and livelihoods is being played out on the southern tip of India — and further complicated by the intervention of the church and the state government — the Adani Group, India’s largest private port operator, has a task on its hands to keep this signature project on track.

What the protestors say

• Heavy coastal erosion on the northern side of the port and sea accretion (accumulation of sand) in the south after construction began
• Impacts lives of 50,000 fishermen
• Port includes a real estate component — two luxury hotels, one shopping mall, one convention centre and one residential complex — because it is not viable
• IRR and NPV for Kerala government low or negative

What the supporters say

• Depth of port precludes need for regular dredging
• Location is close to international shipping channels, which will save costs for shipping companies
• Erosion predates start of construction by several years; no connection with port construction