KOCHI: Since Tuesday, the state has been witness to a unique protest on an unprecedented scale. At a time when the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, sleepless nights haunt a vast majority of the coastal population in the Kerala capital. Even as Kerala’s first natural all-weather deep-sea port is being readied at Vizhinjam, thousands of fishermen have hit the streets in protest against the state government over what has been termed as a major ‘development’ milestone in our history. On Tuesday, fisherfolks under the Latin Archdiocese laid siege to the construction site at the trans-shipment terminal, forcing authorities to stop work for the day.
Raising a slew of demands, including speedy implementation of the rehabilitation package, compensation for affected fishermen and efforts to address sea erosion, the agitation will continue till August 30. The state government has agreed to talks. Such large-scale protests have evoked memories of public agitations held against the Kochi International Container Trans-shipment Terminal, also known as the Vallarpadam Terminal, a decade ago.
Right from the beginning, the coastal folk had warned that any work on the breakwater could derail the lives and livelihoods of thousands of fishermen families who are solely dependent on the sea. It seems the government is yet to realise the severity of coastal erosion in the region. With just one-fourth of the 3.1-km-long breakwater completed, a major portion of the coast has already been submerged under the sea. Researchers too had pointed at possible environmental damage due to construction and continuous dredging.
The ongoing protests around the mega container trans-shipment terminal project raise questions on the state’s development paradigm per se, in addition to highlighting before the state’s politico, a few uncomfortable reminders about the direction in which the government’s developmental perspective is headed.
What does development stand for? Who are the actual beneficiaries of development? To what extent does the government expect people to sacrifice for the state’s common good? Why is it that the ‘victims’ of development are always those who are already living on the fringes of society?
On the other hand, how ideal is a scenario where such a mass agitation is being led by a religious institution? Does it amount to holding the government to ransom over negotiations on a rehabilitation package?
When construction began in December 2015, authorities announced that the first ship would berth here in 2018. However, due to a combination of factors including two back-to-back floods and the pandemic, the deadline for completion is being pushed further and further. So is rehabilitation too.
The coastal folks are already on the receiving end, bearing the brunt of a series of natural calamities right from Cyclone Ockhi in 2017. They seem to have spilt out on to the streets, only after being pushed to the wall for an unbearably long duration.
Unless and until the state government wakes up to the stark on-ground reality and implements some realistic quick damage control measures, the ongoing protests may well turn out to be the harbinger of a major social and environmental coastal disaster in the state!