The Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is rapidly developing. According to specialists, the disaster that awaits the shoreline is also approaching fast.
Dredging activities in the Vizhinjam region have caused environmental problems, and the rocky reefs, which serve as a habitat for hundreds of marine animals, have been destroyed by sand. This has also resulted in the fishermen’s community, particularly traditional mussel collectors, losing their livelihood.
Dredging for the sea lane began in 2015 after Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) signed a contract for the Rs 7,525-crore project with Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited. The area is considered to be landslide proof due to the nature of the terrain and rock groups. This eliminates the need for constant dredging, making Vizhinjam an excellent place for the construction of a port.
However, scientists who have studied the area’s marine ecology point out that the port building is not only inflicting long-term damage to the sea ecosystem but is also impacting marine life and fishermen’s livelihoods.
Several studies were conducted by volunteers from the city-based Friends of Marine Life (FML) led by chief coordinator Robert Panippilla. They have discovered that several rocky reefs have already been destroyed as a result of dredging efforts. Others are on the approach of being destroyed.
According to experts, as the seas absorb the chemicals that cause global warming, they become more acidic. This results in a loss of marine biodiversities such as habitat destruction and coral reef liquefaction.
Traditional fishermen have reported that a few varieties of fishes located in the rocky reefs of the district’s coastal regions have disappeared. Those include fishes such as Chennavara (Red mullets), Numb fish, and Torpedo Ray, an ocean specialist who works closely with the fishermen community.
“I recently recorded 32 traditional fishing reefs on the south Thiruvananthapuram coast from the projected Vizhinjam port’s shipping channel and entrance,” Kumar explains. These are in danger. I’ve noticed that the sessile corals that provide a habitat for fish are bleaching and degrading, culminating in fish extinction.”
Many rocky reefs have already been destroyed owing to dredging, according to Kumar Sahayaraju. Marine researchers working in reef documentation have many types of research showing the damages to marine life. More than 147 species, including mussels and corals, have been gone.
According to experts, port construction is irreparably damaging the maritime ecology and harming marine life and fishermen’s livelihoods. Coral reefs and mussel habitats are disappearing. Several fish species have already vanished.
