Chennai: Fisherfolk stage 'Jal Satyagraha' to save Ennore Creek
Fishermen allege that fraudulent maps have denied the existence of the creek making way for illegal development
Standing waist-deep in waters of the Kosasthalai River fisherfolk staged a satyagraha to save the Ennore creek in Chennai on Wednesday. Hundreds of residents demanded the withdrawal of alleged fraudulent maps denying the existence of the Ennore Creek. The community has been fighting a lonely battle against the Tamil Nadu government accusing it of turning wetlands illegally into industrial real estate corridors.
"River, not land"
Protestors- young and old- stood hand-in-hand in the river shouting slogans of "This is river- not land". This is the fisherfolk community's first public attempt at hold the government responsible for attempting to illegally convert 6500 acres of the Ennore wetlands into an industrial real estate. The original Coastal Regulation Zone map, approved by the Government of India, in 1996 declares the entire Ennore Creek as a "No Development Zone."
Fraudulent map makes creek disappear
Protestors allege that fraudulent CRZ maps have been drawn to deny the existence of Ennore creek. Fishermen are fighting to save the waterbody from none other than the Tamil Nadu government. Residents allege that the government through a fraudulent map has made way for Kamarajar Port, L&T Port, NTECL Vallur, HPCL and BPCL and parts of TANGEDCO's power infrastructure in brazen violation of CRZ status.
Fisherfolk's life and livelihood at stake
"Fishing economy has been hit massively. Shrinking of water body means less space for fish. Shrinking has happened in terms of surface spread as well as depth thanks to the dumping of dredged sand from the sea, silting the waterbody. The larger concern is fly ash and heavy metals from the industries polluting the environment causing health hazards," said Nityanand Jayaraman, Environmental activist and researcher who was part of the protest.
Map v/s Map dilemma
In
July
2017,
the
State
Coastal
Zone
Management
Authority
claimed
that
the
originally
approved
CRZ
map
for
Ennore
declaring
the
entire
region
as
a
"No
Development
Zone"
was
replaced
by
an
"updated"
map
in
which
the
entire
Creek
is
shown
as
a
petrochem
park.
Protestors
allege
that
the
map
effectively
denies
the
existence
of
Ennore
creek
thus
making
way
for
an
industrial
real
estate.
Protestors
even
allege
that
information
sought
under
RTI
exposes
this
map
to
be
fraudulent
with
no
approval
from
the
Central
Government.
Chennai stares at another flooding
Protestors have warned that encroachments have already altered hydrology, leading to flooding in upstream areas. Parts of Athipattu and Nandiambakkam were flooded and waterlogged because of the encroachments in Ennore Creek in October last year and protestors warn that the situation will severely increase the risk of disastrous flooding for nearly 10 lakh people residing in Chennai and Thiruvallur districts. More than 1,100 acres of the Ennore Creek - consisting of saltpans and mangroves - have already been converted into industrial infrastructure by Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL), TANGEDCO, NTECL Vallur, HPCL and BPCL. Now the government intends to divert an additional 1,000 acres of the Creek for constructing car parking terminals, warehouse zones and coal yards.
OneIndia News