Fr. James D’ Culas

Why are Abp Thomas Netto, priests and the people striking against the construction of a new port by the Adani Group?
The construction work of a new artificial port was started by the Adani Group at Vizhinjam, in Trivandrum district of Kerala, in the year 2016. They started dredging and reclamation works at Vizhinjam Sea and also started construction on a breakwater. Soon after that coastal erosion got intensified in the northern coastal villages like Valiathura, Kochuthope, Vettucaud etc, all parishes of Trivandrum Latin Archdiocese. That continued every year and more and more houses collapsed into the sea over the last five years. Hundreds of houses were destroyed due to erosion and many families became refugees. They were put up in school premises and cement godowns that had no basic facilities. The construction work also affected the smooth functioning of the existing fishing harbour at Vizhinjam. During the monsoon season, this harbour is used by many fishers of neighbouring villages. In the year 2021, as the construction work of new breakwater got intensified, three fishers died and more than fifty fishing boats capsized and got damaged.
Former Archbishop Soosapakiam had submitted petitions in writing to the concerned minister and officials of Government of Kerala some two years back and later reminders were sent to them to compensate and rehabilitate the affected coastal people, but the government paid no heed. This year also, Abp Thomas Netto reminded the government about the steps to be taken, but their response was negative. The communities in coastal parishes that were badly affected were also looking up to the archdiocese for help as both ruling and opposition political parties were not showing any interest. This is the context in which the archdiocese, after much consultation among the community leaders and parish priests, decided to launch a struggle against the construction of the new port.
In fact, before the contract for the port was signed between the Kerala Government and the Adani Ports, the diocese under the leadership of then Archbishop Dr Soosapakiam had staged a Satyagraha in front of the Government Secretariat raising questions on the possible coastal erosion due to the port and consequent loss of livelihood and houses. The Government then issued a government order that proposed a Rs.475 crores package for rehabilitation of coastal communities on the northern side of the port. However, this remained on paper and no money has been spent so far for rehabilitation. That also was one more reason to launch the agitation now.

Why do you say there was no scientific study of the port?
It is mandatory to have Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and public hearing on port projects. The Vizhinjam port also went through such a process and our Diocesan Centre for Fisheries Studies (CFS), of which Abp Dr Soosapakiam was then the Trustee, and many of our parishes along the coast actively got engaged in this process. Written representations were made and all of them pointed out to possible coastal erosion and damage to the existing fishing harbour at Vizhinjam. They also pointed out disruption of fishing on the southern side due to the proposed shipping channel. All these objections were recorded in the final EIA report and can be seen in Table 7-26: Category 5 – Serious Concerns in pages 448 to 470 and also in 1397 – 1406; the report is available in the official website of VISL (https://www.vizhinjamport.in/eia-30-5-13.php.). Unfortunately, the authorities did not pay attention to even our scientifically valid objections, especially on the possibility of erosion in the northern coastal villages, and went ahead with the project. They even deleted a chapter titled ‘Shoreline Changes’ from the draft EIA report presented for public hearing when the final EIA report was submitted to the Ministry of Environment. All our apprehensions are now turning out to be true and scientifically vindicated. What we feared is happening. This is why we say they did not conduct a truthful scientific study on the implications of constructing this port.

In modern developmental schemes, the people of the locality are very often ignored for the sake of what the authorities say is development?
The proposed commercial port (now Adani Port) had very little employment opportunities. The official EIA report itself says, “expected direct employment during operation phase will be 600 persons and 2000 persons of indirect employment (truck driving, truck repair, taxi service, eateries etc). The direct jobs are mostly technical ones like crane operators. At the Vizhinjam fishing harbour alone there are more than 2000 fishers self-employed directly and indirect jobs in fish marketing, processing, transport etc provide employment for another 2000. In our estimate more than 10,000 fishers will be directly affected in the district. So it is clear that this ‘modern development scheme’ not only ignores the people of the locality but also displaces them from their livelihood and dwelling places.

The port the strikers say endangers the livelihoods of fisher families and will displace thousands of people. Was this not foreseen by the port authorities and necessary steps taken?
Yes, this issue was not properly foreseen by the authorities. They mainly considered only a fishing village situated on the southern side named Adimalathura. All their fishing crafts and gear were ‘bought’ over by the authorities and they were asked to quit fishing as they were going to be permanently affected. The compensation amount given was for them to take up another occupation. It means even their children and subsequent generations will have no right to continue their traditional way of earning a livelihood. All these people will certainly become ‘development refugees’ very soon if the port comes into operation.
The port authorities always claimed that construction of this artificial port will not result in erosion. And now that it has happened, they try to shirk their responsibility by putting the blame on ‘climate change’.

India’s billionaire population grew by 24% to 145 billionaires during 2020-21. As per the attitude survey, 69% of Indians expect more than 10% increase in their wealth in 2022. Why are the poor becoming poorer and the rich growing richer? For whom is our development?
It is a far-reaching question that has already been answered by many social scientists. Adani, the corporate in question, is a classic example for it. Even during the covid pandemic period, when the economy and ordinary working people were badly affected with loss of jobs and income, Adani’s profit and wealth increased.
This is a global phenomena that has gained prominence in the Indian context. In the 1990’s, our leaders promoted the new economic policy with the help of the then Finance Minister who later became India’s Prime Minister. The growth of multinational companies (MNC’s) under the patronage of the direction of International Monitoring Fund (IMF) was tilted in favour of the rich and the upper classes, sidelining the poor and marginalized. It is already an accepted fact that the new Economic policies widened the gap between the rich and the poor. “The digital divide” caused by the covid pandemic worsened this situation and the gap keeps widening. We have studies that prove this fact. Last year the international organization Oxfam made a study of this situation and one of the alarming data they brought out is that 50 percent of India’s wealth is in the hands of the one percent rich. The richest of them, Adani, is reportedly the third richest person in the world.

Is our country geared to the growth of multinational corporations rather than the welfare of the population in general? Is our democracy fooling the people?
The new economic policy introduced in 1990’s in India promotes liberalization, privatization and globalization, which helped multinational companies to emerge as the new capitalized force in the country. The Adani port is the symbol of the larger population living at the mercy of corporates and the central and state governments. A cry for survival is echoing across Kerala’s fishing villages of Vizhinjam situated in the Thiruvananthapuram coast. Tens of thousands of people have been gathering there at the entrance of the Vizhinjam International Transhipment terminal under construction, fighting for their right to survive.
The fishers are telling that they are in crisis because their shores are being eroded drastically since the port construction began in 2015. Their houses have been washed away by the turbulent Arabian sea. 366 families have been packed into a hell-like cement storage shed with no alternatives yet provided even after five years. Coast depletion is escalating in the adjoining villages as the port construction progresses. The affected areas have become impoverished and the waters becoming more destructive by the day. And so the cry “we want justice”.

Garcia Marquez in his “Love in the time of Cholera” speaks about “development” as a plague. The system is a death trap for the poor everywhere! What can really be done?
The Vizhinjam container transhipment port under construction is situated at about 15 Kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. An existing fishing harbour built in 1970’s facilitates the fishers of the neighbouring villages to use larger boats for deep sea fishing. The idea of transhipment port at Vizhinjam was first proposed by the Congress led government in1995. It was propagated that the port would transform Thiruvananthapuram by bringing large foreign exchange, business development opportunities and permanent job opportunities for the family members of fishers. On the contrary, studies released by different agencies such as the International Financial Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in 2015 revealed the unviability of the project and warned of the profound and irreparable environmental and socio-economic impact that it entails. Since Vizhinjam was classified as an environmentally vulnerable spot, the port project was denied the Central government’s environment clearance. Ironically, the project was tendered hurriedly in 2015 while two cases challenging the project where pending with the Green Tribunal in its Delhi and Chennai benches.

Words like ‘’the people,’’ have lost their meaning. Do we now have to fight against a fossilized language? Not only in the case of the Marxists, who have petrified the language most. Have the Marxists of Kerala expelled Marx from their ideology and become capitalists? What has happened to Marxism after the fall of the Berlin Wall?
We don’t consider people as people; we consider them as a crowd. Ideologies have become increasingly irrelevant. Theory and practice never match; they are like parallel lines. The communists are now neither capitalists nor Marxists; like all others, they have become opportunists. They are at the mercy of corporates. After 75 years of Independence, we are politically a free country, but enjoy no socio-economic freedom. Democracy has become a mockery. It is ruled by cast and religion. Political parties depend on corporates to fight elections to buy MLAs and MPs after the election. The fall of the Berlin Wall signalled the victory of new economic policies and the corporates.

Priests, bishops and nuns are joining the people to stage a revolt; how does that align with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is true that there is a section of people who thinks that bishops and priests should not enter into political action, especially for agitations and strikes. It is also true that there is the danger of it taking on a communal colour. The concerns of the fishers are secular. The fishers include Hindus, Muslims and Christians and the issues raised are related to their human rights, especially of life and livelihood. We are not fighting for power and positions. We are raising a human rights issue. We are taking a stand in favour of the poor and marginalized of society, just as Jesus did. It is a preferential option for the poor that is inspired by the liberative message of the Gospel. We are not entering into party politics either. There is an allegation floated by vested interests that we are against development. That is totally false. We are just asking: what development and whose development is it? As Mahatma Gandhi expressed, “whenever you think about any developmental action, our primary concern should be to benefit the least, last and the lost”; he named it “the Andhiyodaya”. Likewise, we do not support the corporates and the new economic policies. Ideally, all the laity should actively get involved in this processes. We are in the midst of a processes of synodality – a journeying together. A journey with the people includes bishops, priests, religious and laity. It also includes all sections of the people. We are raising an ecological issue which Catholic Church considered as a relevant humanitarian concern of the day, as Pope Francis expressed in his Encyclical “Laudato si”.