Even as we celebrate the World Fisheries Day, fishermen of Colachel in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district live in fear of losing their livelihood once the proposed Colachel International Container Transmit Terminal (ICTT) takes off. With the Wedge Bank the third largest fishing ground of the world being situated in the west coast of Kanyakumari district, fishing remains the only source of livelihood for nearly 1 lakh fishermen in the area. It also provides jobs to more than 50,000 people in the harbour and the fish market. The fishermen of Kanyakumari district are well known for fishing in the deep sea for multiple days. They go fishing from 500 to 1000 nautical miles into the sea and stay in the deep sea from 15 to 50 days. Their catch includes varieties like shark and tuna. Although such expeditions are often risky to the lives of fishermen, the catch helps them eke out a decent livelihood. These fishermen also contribute to the foreign exchange of the nation as the shark and tuna fish are exported to different countries. The whole ecology, however, will be destroyed once the Colachel port starts functioning. The west coast of Kanyakumari has been facing severe sea erosion. In the past, houses of hundreds of fishermen have been destroyed due to sea erosion. Besides, the National Green Tribunal in an order had mandated that no major construction should be undertaken along stretches of the coast that are prone to sea erosion. If one goes by these facts, the west coast of Kanyakumari doesn’t qualify as a site for the proposed Colachel ICTT. But, once the plan is executed, 16 coastal villages from Enayam to Neerodi in the west face the danger of being completely washed off by the sea in the coming years a calamity that will make 50,000 fishermen families homeless. There is also a high probability that the oil leakage from ships operating in the port area will affect the fish population, making them migrate to other parts of the sea. Apprehending the dangers that the project will bring along, fishermen in the region are demanding that the centre should scrap it and build fisheries and mercantile harbours instead. They argue that these harbours will provide many with job opportunities associated with fishing. The ICTT, however, doesn’t promise any such opportunities as most of its work will be done with the help of machines. At a time when the Vallarmadam ICTT in Ernakulam, Kerala suffers from lack of sufficient transmit of containers and we have a competing ICTT project in Vizhinjam, Trivandrum, one wonders if the Colachel ICTT project is still an economically feasible option. The Centre should rethink on the Colachel ICTT project and introduce projects that would boost the livelihood of fishermen in the area.
2016 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.