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Seaport construction resumes in Vizhinjam after a delay of over four months

The construction work commenced at the port; the barge movement will start soon, and in a few days, the work will be in full swing.

ByPTI

Published Dec 08, 2022 | 1:10 PM ⚊UpdatedDec 08, 2022 | 1:10 PM

Trucks carrying transporting construction materials for Vizhinjam seaport. (Screengrab)

With the fisherfolk calling off their over 130-day-long agitation, for now, against the Vizhjinjam sea port here two days ago, construction resumed there on Thursday, 8 December, with trucks full of material rolling into the project site.

Visuals of the project site shared by a source in Adani Group showed the trucks loaded with construction materials rolling in and the surrounding area being devoid of protestors who were camped there for over four months.

The agitation was called off on Tuesday and on the next day the protestors informed the Kerala High Court that the tent set up at the protest site outside the port was being removed.

The submission was made during the hearing of a plea moved by Adani Group for contempt action against the protestors for not complying with the court’s orders to not obstruct the way to the project site.

With the agitation being called off and the protestors assuring to remove the tent at the protest site, the High Court had closed the contempt pleas.

Barge movement to start soon

Subsequently, on Thursday, the construction work commenced at the port and the source said that the barge movement will start soon and in a few days it will be working in full swing.

The priority would be given to completing the construction of the 2,960 metres long breakwater of which around 1,400 metres have been completed, the source said.

Piling required for berth construction, main power sub-station, port operation building, gate complex, workshop and a third of the port approach road — including two bridges forming part of it — stood completed, the source added.

The source also said that 60 percent of the reclamation for backyard construction has also been completed.

The over four-month-long protest was called off on Tuesday after discussions between the leaders of the agitation and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Also read: Despondency in Vizhinjam as Latin Catholic Church backs down

A large number of fisherfolk had been staging demonstrations outside the main entrance of the multi-purpose sea port at Mulloor near Thiruvananthapuram for over four months.

They had been pressing for their seven-point charter of demands that include stopping the construction work and conducting a coastal impact study in connection with the multi-crore project.

The agitators had been alleging that the unscientific construction of groynes, and the artificial sea walls as part of the upcoming port, were some of the reasons for the increasing coastal erosion.

The protesters had attacked Vizhinjam police station on the night of 27 November, injuring several policemen.

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