Timeless Karwar beach now a ‘zone’ of contention

The scenic beach, where poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote his first drama Prakritir Pratishodh, is now a ‘zone of contention’ between fishermen and the government.

As boulders are being dumped on the Rabindranath Tagore beach in Karwar for building a breakwater, a little far away members of fishing community are staging a dharna and protesting against the expansion of Karwar port, under Sagarmala project, in front of the Uttara Kannada (UK) deputy commissioner’s office for the past one week.

The fishermen’s protest against the project became vocal after Karnataka State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), following the recommendation by State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), in January 2019, issued an environmental clearance (EC) to the Karwar Port Division’s proposal on expanding the port capacity from 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 4.5 MTPA.

According to Karwar Port Officer Capt Swamy, the project would be implemented near Bhaitkol village at a cost of Rs 274 crore. A 880-metre sea wall will be constructed and the jetty will be expanded by 250 metre.

Fishermen leader K T Tandel laments that their written objections against the project was ignored during a public hearing in February 2018.

Last week, thousands of fishermen took to the streets after the executing agency of the project begun dumping boulders on the beach to build a 1200-metre-long break-water.

As many as 114 fishermen families have to be relocated if the project is implemented. The fishermen in 13 beaches surrounding Seabird naval base were not scientifically rehabilitated, said Shridhar Bhaitkol, secretary, Bhaitkol Meenugarara Seva Sangha.

Apart from harming the scenic Tagore beach, the project will threaten livelihood of 25,000 people. Fishermen in Bhaitkol are already suffering dust pollution (during the loading and unloading of cargo), sea pollution and erosion.

Senior marine biologist V N Nayak has justified the fears of fishermen pointing out that the sea wall would cut off fishing community’s access to fish stocks.

Vinayak Bhaitkol, a fishermen leader, said Karwar, like Mumbai, was one foot below the sea. Due to reclaiming of land at Naval base, the sea had extended by 50 metres affecting the functioning of a toy train on the beach. “If there is another breakwater, entire town would sink,” he feared.

Advocate B S Pai asserts that the expansion of Karwar commercial port was not development but destruction.

“Kali river creek, declared as critically vulnerable coastal area (CVCA), is located within 5 km from the project site, and thus SEIAA was not the competent authority to issue EC. The CRZ clearance is violation of CRZ notification, 2011. The port had submitted an application, a few days ago, seeking permission from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. The project’s bio-diversity plan also has not been validated by the Bio-diversity Board,” he said adding that they were exploring legal options.

U-K Deputy Commissioner K Harishkumar said, following the protest, work on breakwater had stopped. “The district administration will facilitate a meeting between the fishermen’s delegation and the chief minister,” he said.