At Press meet held at Press club of Bengaluru, Ms.Vidya Dinker & Rajani Rao said, The fishing community from 5 different villages in Honnavar have been putting up a resistance since 2012 to defend their coast, their livelihood, and their homes from the proposed port Honnavar Port Pvt. Ltd. The port is being developed on land belonging to five fishing villages of Kasarkod Tonka 1, Tonka 2, Pavinkurva, Mallukurva and Honnavar rural. However, since the beginning of this project, the fishing community were unhappy since they were never consulted at the time the port was proposed. They feel that the port threatens the livelihood & futures of over 23,500 fisher-folk who are dependent on fishing and fish drying as their only source of livelihood. A big percentage of these are women who are not just part of the fish drying industry but play a crucial part across the supply chain.
Over the years, various civil society members including marine biologists, coastal ecologists, fisheries scientists, economists, environmental researchers have expressed their concerns about the proposed port project, corroborating their views after studying the publicly available documents provided by the port like the Environmental Impact Assessment and studies from independent researchers. They have identified several flawed environmental, social, legal and economic considerations in the project, such as potential damage to critical fish breeding sites in the estuary, impact on fishing livelihoods and lack of economic feasibility. Notably, even the region’s elected representative (MLA) opposed the project in 2012, highlighting the depth of local concerns.
A few reasons why the proposed port is being resisted by the community:
Olive Ridley habitat destruction: The beach where the proposed road and the port area are situated where the critically endangered Olive Ridley Turtles’ females come to nest, lay their eggs.
. Destruction of the sensitive ecology: The port will destroy the Sharavathi river mouth; this estuarine system is a rich breeding center for fish and has dense mangrove forests with hundreds of species of flora and fauna. Experts fear the environmental devastation which will be caused by this port project is irreversible. Livelihood of indigenous Fishing Community: The upcoming port and a dedicated road to access the port (and a proposed railway line) in future could displace and alter the lives and livelihoods of the residents here who are mostly members of the fishing community. Highly Shifting coastline: Scientific studies authorized by the government in 2016 has marked this coastal stretch as a highly erosive beach with historic trend of drastic changes attributed to erosion and accretion; shifting the rivermouth by several kilometers. Missing Villages in new CZMP Maps: The land on which both the port and the road are proposed are not completely government owned / “port land” as claimed by the state but have private ownership (grant land, regularised encroachments etc) and the coastal commons. Additionally, the CZMP maps of 2011 and 2019 do not have the villages on the map (Map No: KA 25 CZMP).
Dirty Cargo: The private port is proposed to handle a cargo of 4.9 MTPA/ Million tonnes Per Annum. The Cargo which is predominantly coal followed by iron ore. Coal has the potential to cause environmental pollution in all stages like handling, storing or while being transported.
Lack of transparency: Combined with the above, very limited information about the project has been provided by the government departments and the port company has made it extremely difficult for the community to effectively advocate for their rights and the environment. RTI’s haven’t been responded to on time or sometimes never responded to.
The community, with the assistance of experts has meticulously reviewed each aspect of its approvals, including land allocation and environmental clearances, identifying crucial flaws.
1. These concerns were consistently raised through various channels including public hearings and meetings with officials of all the concerned departments with written representations from the community.
2. Additionally, numerous protests and demonstrations were held to inform the wider public about the issues and collectively petition the authorities.
3. With their limited means, they have actively pursued a legal route.
However over a decade of appeals for a comprehensive re-evaluation of the entire proposal have gone unanswered and justice seems to evade them. The tragic result of this is that the port company enabled by the state machinery has proceeded with construction of a road illegally between Jan – May 2022 permanently causing Irreversible damage to the Kasarkod beach areas.
Additionally, the community members who have been resisting the port through democratic, peaceful and legal means have been branded as criminals by the state and the port company. They face repercussions like physical assault, false cases being filed on them and illegal detention and job loss (if employed elsewhere). Youth of the community are facing the brunt of this the most. Women and children too are living in constant fear since their homes are at risk and there have been instances when administration has sent police forces to their homes when the men folk are away. Many live in fear and some have left the village unable to bear the harassment. They have seen members of their own community change sides to speak about the port after facing threats. They have been subject to intimidation, their human rights violated and false cases were framed and they are being tried in courts.
Human rights violation, intimation by police:
Since June 2021, the fisher folk have been faced with intimidation and large police forces deployed to construct the road illegally without obtaining required permissions. In January 2022, fishing community women blocked the pathway and sat in a peaceful demonstration to protest the same. On January 24, 2022 the police physically assaulted many of the protestors and they were detained illegally. Even though the port officials had no official permissions, the construction of the road by bringing in red soil and large boulders was resumed illegally. This incident was reported by a human rights group who filed a complaint in May 2022 with the National Human Rights Council (NHRC). The respondents to this complaint are the DC and the SP. The response from DC was never filed. The response from the SP filed with the NHRC shows a clear tone of considering the resisting fisher folk as “trouble makers” thus creating a narrative to support the frequent deployment of police forces to carry out any work regarding the port, including illegal construction of the road.
It is against this backdrop that a fact finding team visited the area in March 2023 to gather evidence and determine the truth. The fact finding team consisted of independent journalists and an advocate with experience in human rights and environmental matters.
Repeated recent developments: Since the 1st week of January 2024 Kasarkod villagers have been intimidated by visits to their home from so called “authorities” in the name of a “survey”. They would usually visit the homes when the men folk were away at work in the docks. An atmosphere of fear prevailed. No official communication was ever provided to individuals or the Gram Panchayat on the activity being carried out. Finally, on January 31, 2024, around 2:00 PM, without any advance information to the Gram Panchayat, police force arrived in several hundreds and asked the villagers to stay away from the beach and all common areas. Police instructed the people to vacate all public spaces and remain inside their homes since authorities were to conduct a survey. Meanwhile, the authorities- Assistant Commissioner of Bhatkal with other officials arrived to do the survey.
The concemed villagers then gathered in substantial numbers to seek a copy of the official order containing the specifics of the survey, and asked the authorities how they could conduct a survey without any prior notice to the Gram Panchayat or the fisherfolk community. They were denied any information from the AC. Much later that night, villagers received a copy of the letter from the AC’s office to the Land records department informing of a survey to be conducted to mark a line 50 m from the High Tide Line.
As the crowds grew and the impatience of officials and the villagers, the police resorted to manhandling of the villagers and a few men and 7 women were singled out by name and dragged into the police vans. They were roughed up, manhandled and even women were assaulted by the male police personnel (video recordings are available). The above incident occurred between 3:30 PM and 5:00 PM.
The detained people were then subjected to 36 hours of movement between police stations in Manki, Kumta, Karwar. They were not allowed to speak to their family or seek legal help. Children and extended families of those arrested were in a state of fear running around to seek information. Meanwhile an FIR was never given to the detainees and instead it was put up on the website on February 1, 2024 full 24 hours after the detention. The families then went about seeking legal help to obtain bail. After being denied bail on February 2nd and police custody extended until February 5th when they were finally granted bail. During this time, for four days, the authorities continued with the “survey” entering the areas where the homes of the community stand and installing cement stone pillars as markers.
A complaint with the State Human rights Commission, Karnataka has been filed by Mr. Chandrakant Kochrekar, State Secretary (Karnataka) – National Association of Fishermen on February 3, 2024.
In view of the recent survey, it is clear that the community is now faced with the threat of losing their homes in addition to the preexisting nightmare of loss of livelihood. Many of them are additionally burdened with severe mental and financial distress due to the false cases they face. A peace loving small Indigenous fishing community that was living in dignity through their hard toil in the sea and on land is today on the brink of annihilation through a series of actions to bring up a Port on a small sandspit in an environmentally sensitive zone.
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