The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) will hold a public hearing on the expansion of Adani group’s Kattupalli Port in Tiruvallur district on September 5.
The company applied for environmental clearance in 2019 for expanding the capacity of the port at a cost of ₹53,031 crore. The expansion, as mentioned in the “Proposed Revised Master Plan Development of Kattupalli Port”, involves accommodating all the berths as multipurpose cargo port with transloading facilities, backup facilities and independent port craft facilities, waste reception facilities, and conveyor systems.
According to the Environment Impact Assessment, the port is proposed to be expanded from its current area of 330 acres to 6,111 acres. Of this, nearly 2,000 acres are planned to be reclaimed by dumping dredged sand into the sea.
The proposed expansion evoked strong opposition from environmentalists and Opposition parties so much so that the public hearing scheduled on January 22, 2021 was deferred citing COVID-19 norms.
A section of environmental activists said the project will turn Ennore-Pulicat backwaters into an industrial area, severely affecting the livelihoods of fishers apart from causing damage to the Pulicat lake, the second largest brackish-water ecosystem in India. The port will exacerbate erosion in Tiruvallur coast, which has been recorded as a highly-eroding coast as per the National Centre for Coastal Research and affect the Kattupalli barrier island that protects the Pulicat lake, said M. Yuvan of Palluyir Trust.
It will increase the threat of floods in Chennai as it would block the Kosasthalaiyar river, which is the largest flood drainage system for the city, he said.
“The DMK in 2021 said the Adani port will not be given permission if elected to power. In this case, it is shocking that a public consultation meeting has been announced,” said Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental organisation, in its statement and urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to not go back on his promise.