Vizhinjam coastal erosion: Expert panel report not impartial, says High Court; bars further action

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has ruled that the final report of the expert committee appointed by the government to study complaints of coastal erosion following the construction of the Vizhinjam port was not impartial. The court ordered that no further action be taken based on the report. Justice Harishankar V. Menon also directed the government to constitute an independent committee with impartial members to examine the issue.

The verdict came on petitions filed by fishermen who claimed that they had lost their land and livelihoods due to the port construction. The expert committee had primarily attributed coastal erosion to natural disasters such as cyclones and maintained that it had no connection with the development project.

The court upheld the petitioners' contention that some committee members had personal interests linked to the project. It took serious note of the fact that committee chairman M D Kudale had been a member of a technical committee associated with the Vizhinjam port project since 2012. The court observed that appointing someone with prior links to the project was inappropriate. The court also took note of allegations that another committee member, Dr P.V. Chandramohan, was an office-bearer of a company associated with the Adani Group.

Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners, had pointed out that the committee had conducted a site inspection only once, in 2023. The petitioners had not sought a halt to further development of the port.

The committee was constituted through a government order dated October 6, 2022, issued by the previous government. The government and the Vizhinjam Port Company argued that the project had received environmental and coastal regulation clearances. They also contended that the petitioners should approach the National Green Tribunal if they were dissatisfied with the report. However, the High Court rejected these arguments.