Did Kerala govt fail in handling Vizhinjam stir?

It is 105 days since the construction of the much-hyped Adani Vizhinjam International Seaport project at Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram has come to a standstill owing to the stir by a large section of people in the coastal areas under the leadership of the Latin Catholic church.

The CPM-led Left Democratic Front government's failure in settling the stir had not only cast a shadow over Kerala's investment-friendly climate, but also led to serious law and order concerns that even rake up the memories of earlier incidents of police firing in the sensitive coastal areas of the state over various issues.

Not only did the government not initiate proactive measures to settle the stir by taking the sensitive fishermen dominated coastal community into confidence, but it even provoked the agitators with ministers alleging dubious intentions behind the stir.

Read | Vizhinjam port agitation: Kerala police register 9 cases against protesters

This has taken the situation to such a point that the state is now on the verge of a law and order breakdown as any police action on the coastal community could have its repercussions across the state. The coastal community had already shown their strength last month by blocking the national highway, which resulted in around 70 passengers missing flights from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, which is now run by the Adani group.

Even as the government claims that all the demands raised by the agitators, except for stopping the port construction work, were accepted, it made little efforts to take the people into confidence, sources close to the CPM said.

The adamant nature of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also learnt to be a key factor aggravating the stir.

According to sources in the coastal area, there is already resentment among a section of people of Vizhinjam towards Vijayan with regard to the Ockhi cyclone of 2017 that claimed around 100 lives. Vijayan had faced stiff resistance when he turned up to visit the calamity-hit areas. People accused him of not reaching the calamity spot in time. Hence, there should have been proactive measures from Vijayan this time to take the people of the coastal areas into confidence.

"The state government as well as the ruling CPM were carrying.out campaigns aimed at convincing the people of its stand on the rift with the Governor. But no such confidence-building efforts were taken with regard to the Vizhinjam stir," sources point out.

Dissident Congress leader and former Union Minister K V Thomas said that it was high time that the Chief Minister himself intervened and settled the issues instead of leaving it to cabinet subcommittees and delaying decisions. Some minor issues raised by the agitators were still pending finalisation, said Thomas, who used to mediate to settle the stir especially since he is also from the Latin Catholic community.
The Rs 7,500-crore project, initiated in 2015, is expected to attract motherships and thereby boost Kerala's economy.