Ahead of the release of the Coastal Zone Management Plan by Tamil Nadu government, fishermen demanded that issues pertaining to sea erosion, prospective use of the coastal land and the mandatory hazard line should form a part of the strategy. These demands were put forth by the fisherfolk and an environmental organisation, which said a report prepared in 2012 predicted that 3209.33sqkm of the state’s coastline is likely to be affected due to sea level rise, rendering millions of people homeless. Similarly, the Indian Space Research Organization’s Space Application Center in their report “Coastal Zones of India” warned the government of India and TN for allowing the urban sprawl to grow in vulnerable coastal areas. Fisherman K Saravanan of Urur Kuppam in Besant Nagar said the ISRO’s report prepared five years ago showed that one metre rise in sea level is capable of submerging or degrading by tidal action about 85.66km of railway infrastructure, 497.65sqkm of cropland and 826sqkm of aquifers. “While the report by ISRO has been filed, TN planning commission report on Chennai has not been published, despite its public importance,” said Pooja Kumar of Coastal Resource Centre. As per the submergence map of ISRO report, the city stands to lose 3.11sqkm of critical industrial infrastructure, mostly in Ennore region. NTPC’s thermal power plant in Vallur, Tangedco’s power plants in Ennore, Kamarajar port’s existing and proposed infrastructure inside the Ennore creek, oil terminals of HPCL and BPCL, desalination plant in Minjur and portions of CPCL’s petrochemical refinery in Manali are likely to be swallowed by the sea, she said. According to the report, the groundwater resources of Araniyar – Kosasthalaiyar basin will also be degraded due to thermal ingress. The entire IT corridor will be affected by sea level rise. Similarly, the newly developed areas in and around Pallikaranai marshland will get submerged due to the advancing sea.