Union Minister Muraleedharan said that the Centre had directed the Adani Vizhinjam port authorities to complete the dredging at Muthalapozhi.
Published Aug 31, 2023 | 1:40 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 31, 2023 | 1:40 PM
Union ministers during their visit to Muthalapozhi. (X)
A team of Union ministers visited the Muthalapozhi mini-fishing harbour near Thiruvananthapuram and assured to make the estuary accident-free,
Speaking to reporters after visiting the river mouth on Wednesday, 30 August, night, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala said all necessary steps would be initiated to make the estuary safe,
The picturesque Muthalapozhi, some 30 km from Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram, has been in the news for frequent, fatal boat accidents. According to the official count, the area has witnessed 700 accidents and 69 deaths in the past 10 years.
Fishermen community, however, has been claiming that more than 100 people have died in accidents during the same period.
Ministers of state for fisheries and external affairs L Murugan and V Muraleedharan, respectively, accompanied Rupala.
Rupala said that an expert team has been studying the cause of accidents and based on its report, discussions would be held with fishermen on the further course of action.
He also said that the report of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) team would be placed before those associated with fisheries, people’s representatives and the state government for discussion. He assured a permanent solution for the problem that has been dogging the fishers for long.
Minister Muraleedharan said the Centre had directed the Adani Vizhinjam port authorities to complete dredging at Muthalapozhi.
Even though the Adani Group had informed that the dredging could not be completed due to rain, strict instructions were given to remove the stone and sand immediately to expedite the resolution of the problem, he said.
The ministers also visited the Vizhinjam Fish Landing Centre and Vizhinjam Central Marine Research Institute (CMFRI).
At a high-level meeting chaired by state Fisheries Minister Saji Cheriyan on 31 July, the Adani Group promised to take up drudging works, The Group has been developing the Vizhinjam trans-shipment container terminal further down the coast.
It had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to dredge Muthalapozhi, in return for allowing it to store granite required for the terminal project.
Muthalapozhi in Thiruvananthapuram. (KA Shaji/South First)
Cheriyan had also assured the fishermen that the operations of the port would not be stopped.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Harbour Engineering Department (HED) in 2018, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd (AVPPL) was responsible for dredging the navigation channel and maintaining its depth at five metres until May 2024.
Additionally, AVPPL was required to remove rocks that had slipped into the navigation channel.
Neither dredging nor the removal of rocks was carried out by the Adani Group after 2021, resulting in sand accumulating on top of the rocks. This accumulation has caused an increase in wave intensity, posing a significant risk to motorised fishing boats, as sand brought in from both the sea and the lagoon worsened the situation.
A meeting between the state government and fishermen unions on 28 July concluded that unscientific construction of the harbour has been causing the accidents.
Even though the official figures showed the deaths at Muthalapozhi harbour in the last 10 years as 69, locals claimed that the number has already crossed three digits.
In the most recent accidents, six people were hospitalised on 3 August, two people fishermen were injured on 31 July, two people were critically injured on 29 July, and four people were killed on 10 July.
Following the 10 July incident, irate fishermen and their families led by the Latin Catholic Church entered into a verbal spat with ministers V Sivankutty, Antony Raju and GR Anil, who visited the Muthalapozhi area.
Suresh Fernandez, 58, Biju Antony, 45, Robin Edwin, 42, and Kunhumon Cycil, 48, were the fishermen killed in the 10 July incident. While Cycil’s body was found the same day, the remaining bodies were recovered about 48 hours later.
On 17 July, Cheriyan announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh each to the families of the four deceased fishermen. He also said that houses would be provided for the homeless, besides creating livelihood opportunities.
Debris of boats that had met with accidents could be seen left unattended in the surroundings, a grim reminder of the deceptive waters at the river mouth.
The harbour, built in the early 2000s, has been in use even before it was commissioned in 2020.
Muthalapozhi is some 40 km north of Vizhinjam, where the fishers launched a movement some months ago against corporate major Adani Group’s mega seaport project, saying it would ruin their livelihood.
The Kerala government suppressed that agitation with the support of all political formations across the spectrum.
The fishermen have lost trust in the government. “We no longer trust any of the governments. They keep giving us false promises. We do not know how to proceed in the aftermath of the Vizhinjam struggle,” Valerian, an activist of the Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation, said.
The frustration and disappointment were palpable as authorities have been repeatedly leaving fishermen with broken promises and a lack of meaningful action.
The Muthalapozhi Mini-Fishing Harbour has been a struggle for fisherfolk seeking safe and sustainable livelihoods. For decades, the concerns of the fishing and coir-dependent communities around Muthalapozhi have revolved around two critical issues: Fatal accidents during the monsoon season, and persistent waterlogging.
The latter issue was solved with the construction of the harbour. However, the issue of ensuring fishers’ safety and livelihoods remains unresolved.
Muthalapozhi is a portmanteau of two Malayalam words, muthala (crocodile) and pozhi (sand bank). According to local lore, crocodiles were abundant in the area.
(With PTI inputs)
