Despite desperate pleas by us and fisherfolk, and manifest evidence that the Kosasthalai River is being encroached upon, Kamarajar Port Ltd is going about its business of irreversibly destroying more and more of the wetlands. These are images from 21 October, 2017. Where the rest of the city is busy clearing up clogged waterways in preparation for the Northeast monsoon, Kamarajar Port is encroaching on what is left of Kosasthalai’s backwaters secure in its impunity. We have already briefed you, via personal meetings, letters or phone conversations, about the illegal recommendation for clearance by the State Coastal Zone Management Authority for diversion of Kosasthalai River for construction of coal yards, warehouse zones and car parks by KPL. That clearance was aided by using a fraudulent map that denies the existence of Kosasthalaiyar north of the estuary. The ongoing activity has been projected as part of Phase III Masterplan expansion and the application for CRZ clearance is pending pending at the Expert Appraisal Committee, MoEFCC. Based on our intervention, the EAC Chairman Dr. T. Haque has written to the Member Secretary of the EAC to conduct a site visit. Emboldened by the inaction of key regulators namely, the District Administration and the State Coastal Zone Management Authority — this instance of landfilling of the backwaters by KPL is being undertaken without any legal basis. A 2012 report titled Coastal Zones of India by the Space Application Centre (ISRO) clearly highlights the vulnerability of the Ennore region, identifying it as a zone of submergence due to Predicted Sea Level Rise and degradation due to advance of Predicted High Tide Level. Kamarajar Port is unmoved by requests and even clear evidence that its actions put more than 1 million people at higher risk of disastrous flooding. The dumping of dredged sand is also in violation of CRZ Notification, 2011 as land reclamation and changing the natural features of CRZ area are all prohibited activities. Further, it is also in violation of existing CRZ clearances held by KPL which requires dredged sand to be dumped only in notified areas in the sea. KPL’s activities not only expose residents to danger, but also endangers crores of public money including its own critical infrastructure by placing them in areas prone to submergence by sea level rise and flooding. We request the authorities concerned about flooding and averting disaster to:a) Instruct Kamarajar Port in writing to immediately stop their civil work at the above two sites, namely Puzhuthivakkam Survey No. 143 and Athipattu Survey No. 354. b) Constitute a high-level team headed by a Commissioner, Disaster Management Authority, to inspect the site, evaluate the legality and the vulnerabilities introduced by encroachments belonging to KPL and other agencies in Kosasthalai River’s tail end areas- Sincerely, Nityanand Jayaraman, Chennai Solidarity Group and Pooja Kumar, Coastal Resource Centre, Chennai.