Ports: Interventions in the natural ecology of coasts. Did you know India’s coastline supports almost 30 per cent of the country’s population? And that we are the world’s 7th largest fishing nation? Given all the biodiversity gyaan, there is no denying that beaches provide economical development opportunities in the form of ports. “Ports along the peninsular coastline of India have suddenly become the cynosure of investor and public policy attention in India. But we neither understand the impact nor worry about dealing with the damage,” says Sudarshan Rodriquez from Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai.

1. Puducherry
Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, says, “A few years ago, Puducherry woke up to the reality that its harbour required to be rebuilt and contracts and concessions were awarded to transform it into a massive port (some 20 million tonnes annually). The citizens’ group, which was against the project, went to the court. But the developer – who, strangely, had no experience in ports, and built shops and malls – is not letting go. This is a sweet deal, which brings real estate benefits since the port concession package comes with cheap city land for cost recovery.”

What really happened?
■ The Puducherry Harbour, built in 1986, marked the beginning of devastating changes.
■ All Puducherry fishworkers are anticipated to be affected and over two lakh people have been constantly agitating against the construction of ports and harbours.
■ Fisherfolk see this as an excuse to usurp prime coastal land for low prices.
■ Construction of breakwaters and dredging for the port has already resulted in the accretion and erosion along different parts of the beach.
■ Veerampatnam, four hundred families out of a total of 1800 would lose their land. 75 per cent of the villagers are below the poverty line. Fisherfolk fear that their boats will be damaged and livelihoods would get jeopardised by the project.

2. Mundra (Gujarat) ■ Reclamation and destruction of mangroves -560 hectares ■ 500 families dependent on fishing face the threat of losing their livelihoods as the port and jetties expand into their traditional fishing harbours ■ Dredging activities at the port and movement of barges and large shipping vessels affect fish catch ■ Destruction of nets ■ Obstruction of access   3. Gangavaram (Andhra Pradesh) ■ Displacement of over 3,600 families ■ People were unhappy with the compensation and rehabilitation package and demanded that the jetty distance be reduced by 15 km. ■ New settlement homes much farther away from the sea ■ Concerns over dredging, siltation and the construction of breakwaters ■ Gangavaram fishers denied access to their traditional fishing grounds, compelling them to move towards poor fishing grounds ■ Port inaugurated on July 12, 2009, despite ongoing protests and demands of the fishing community   4. Umargaon (Gujarat) ■ Wide scale protests by fisherfolk in early 2000 ■ Displacement of fishing communities ■ Impact of harbour based fisheries on traditional fisherfolk ■ Destructions of highly profitable traditional fishing and agricultural area ■ Port-protester and activist Lt. Col. (Retd.) Pratap Save (55) dies. Save was allegedly beaten up by the police in custody on April 7, 2000, following a protest by villagers of the area against the survey work being carried out for the port in Umargaon. ■ Protests led to the withdrawal of UNOCAL- the promoter   Stakes are high and time is running out but the government is in no hurry to formulate strict policies or to ensure that they are followed. Coasts are our final frontiers. Can we afford to lose them?

25 per cent of India’s coastline is eroded
Coastal erosion of an appalling and irreparable magnitude is taking place because of ports, harbours and dams, coastal structures, commercial encroachments and sand mining.

Man-made structures: Plenty of problems
● Disturbs natural movement of sand
● Increases and accelerates erosion
● Transfers problem down the coast
● Continues forever as rocks keep sinking
● Changes the coastal ecosystems
● Hinders traditional fisher-folk

Adverse effects. What are the sources?
It is important for us to understand the sources of the destructive effects of ports on our beaches before we figure out how to beat the devil.

1. Location of the port: This determines the severity of impacts. Closer the port is to the beach, higher will be the erosion and greater will be the damage to the inhabitants.

2. Construction destruction: You do realise that construction activities for ports take place both in the offshore waters and on land. The most significant of this is construction of breakwaters or groynes, dredging (excavation activities), disposal of dredged materials, and transport of construction materials.

3. Operation activities: So what happens once ports are made? A lot! This includes ship traffic and discharges, cargo handling and storage, and land transport. Also, ship discharges and emissions, spills, leakages, waterfront industry discharges and land transport to and from the port. Just imagine the damage all this can cause.

■ Regulations: All mumbo jumbo?
Disclaimer: We are not responsible if you are not able to make head or tail of the coastal environmental regulations explained here on. It IS all very CONFUSING. Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification was issued under Environment Protection Act in 1991. The notification prohibits and regulates activities within 500 metres of ‘High Tide Line’ and has four categories:

a. CRZ 1: Ecologically fragile, minimum development allowed
b. CRZ II: Urban areas
c. CRZ III: Rural areas
d. CRZ IV: Andaman &Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands

● CRZ 1991 has been amended 25 times
● In 2008, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) issued a draft Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) notification

CRZ-CMZ-CRZ-CMZ?
● In June 2009, MoEF set up a committee headed by Dr M S Swaminathan to review the committee on CMZ
● In July 2009, the committee submitted its report and recommended: “CMZ should be allowed to lapse. MoEF should strengthen the CRZ notification”.
● In April 2010, MoEF issued a pre-draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2010
● Now, consultations are ongoing and based on this, MoEF will issue a notification soon.