THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has constituted a four-member team to study the coastal area around the Adani Group's Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport.
The team consists of former additional director of Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, MD Kudale, Riji John, Vice Chancellor, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Tejal Kanitkar, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences & Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and PK Chandramohan, Former Chief Engineer, Kandla Port Trust.
The expert committee will examine whether there has been any such coastal erosion consequent to the work done for constructing the port at Vizhinjam and identify specific measures to address the coastal erosion, if any, observed in the zone of influence of construction. The committee shall hear the views of the representatives of the local population before finalising the report, said the order issued by the fisheries department.
The constitution of an expert committee is based on the complaint by the protestors group led by Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram which accused that the port construction accelerated the coastal erosion in the region. The protestors are however not satisfied with the government decision.
"We have demanded that an expert committee shall be formed by including our representative in the committee. As far as I know there is not a single member with the knowledge of oceanography in the committee," said Vicar General of the Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese, and the general convenor of the protest, Eugine H Pereira.
The protestors suffered another setback after the High Court asked them to dismantle the protest shed erected near the port gate.
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The direction came after the Adani Group petitioned that the port work could not be carried out due to the protest organised from the shed.
The protestors however said that they had no immediate plans to remove the shed. They did not heed to the orders of sub divisional magistrate of Thiruvananthapuram to demolish the protest shed by September 30.