Karnataka: Strong opposition to Ankola-Keni port project
Karnataka : There is massive opposition to the construction of an all-weather deep sea port at Keni in Ankola taluka. A public hearing was held in this regard at Satyagraha Smarak Hall in Ankola on Friday.
Thousands of people gathered in the hall and opposed the project. More than 4,000 written petitions were submitted. The meeting, which began at 9 am, continued till night.
Environmental experts demanded, “The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report has not been prepared scientifically. The residents of the villages falling under the project area were not given any information before the public hearing. Therefore, this meeting is being held against the law. This meeting should be cancelled.”
District Collector K. Lakshmi Priya said, “This is not the final EIA report. There is no opportunity for any other meeting now. The report will be sent based on the opinion of the people present here.”
“The environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of the port project was prepared in three months. It is not possible to study the impact on the sea and surrounding environment in such a short time. There is no mention of the impact of the project on the Western Ghats. Therefore, the report should be rejected,” demanded marine biologist V.N. Nayak.
“A large amount of water will be required for the construction of the port and later for the maintenance of ships. There is no mention in the report as to where it will be obtained from. Rocks are required for the project, and the concern is that hills will have to be dug for them,” he said.
A large number of people from the project area, including environmental experts, lawyers and leaders from various fields, raised verbal and strong opposition to the project. Fishermen from the coastal area of the district had suspended fishing activities due to the meeting.
Senior environment officer of Mangalore division of Environment Pollution Control Board Kirti Kumar, regional environment officer B.K. Santosh and officials of JSW KPPL company, which is implementing the project, attended the meeting.
