THOOTHUKUDI: The salt-pan owners urged the state government to drop the proposed ship building project along the Mullakadu coast, citing the need to protect indigenous industrial activity and jobs. They denounced Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi for issuing a statement in favour of the project.
The previous DMK government had ushered in ship-building projects in the salt-pan areas against the interests of the owners, labourers and traders, said Sekar, the secretary of the Kovalam Pasuvantharai Thanpadu Small-Scale Salt Producers Association, while talking to press persons on Monday.
One of the two proposed projects has now moved to Andhra Pradesh due to opposition from salt-pan owners, he said. However, Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi had issued a statement condemning the TVK government for letting the project move out of the state.
She had also claimed that the DMK government facilitated the project by giving alternate industrial activity for the salt pan workers, however, nothing has been initiated, he said.
“Because of the pressures from previous rulers, the present Minister of Industries Keerthana has issued appeals for the return of outgoing projects, assuring all necessary infrastructure,” Sekar noted.
“The project is poised to affect the livelihood of nearly 15,000 persons,” Sekar said, adding, “building a multinational project in the place of an active indigenous industrial activity will destroy jobs. The shipbuilding project should be shifted to other barren and unused coastal areas in the northern part of the district, he said.
Already eight industries in and around Mullakadu village have polluted the region. It is at Mullakadu where the runoff water from intense rains flows into Kayathar and Ottapidaram regions and drains through salt-pan areas before flowing into the sea. Developing an industry in this place would be destructive to the residential settlements, Sekar added.