Escalation of protests

On February 25, the protests reached a boiling point when authorities, under heavy police security and the imposition of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), initiated a land survey for the construction of a road connecting to the proposed port. Anticipating resistance, the district administration enforced prohibitory orders from 6 AM to 9 PM, preventing public gatherings. However, this move only fuelled the outrage, with schoolchildren and entire families joining the protests.

Determined to halt the survey work, hundreds of fishermen, including women and elderly members of the community, gathered at the shore in Kasarkod and staged a sit-in protest. The situation took a dramatic turn when over 50 protestors, including several women, waded into the sea, threatening mass suicide. Three women lost consciousness due to heat exhaustion and were rushed to hospitals, with one requiring critical care at Manipal Hospital.

Amidst the chaos, police detained more than a hundred protestors, including key leaders of the fishing community, accusing them of violating prohibitory orders. The arrests further enraged the demonstrators, who warned of escalating their protests unless their fellow protestors were released. In a show of solidarity, a young girl left a note threatening to jump into the sea, holding the state’s Fisheries Minister, Mankal Vaidya, accountable for the distress inflicted upon the fishing community.

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State repression and suppression of dissent

Rather than addressing the genuine grievances of the community, the Karnataka government and district administration have reportedly resorted to heavy-handed measures to quell the protests. The imposition of prohibitory orders was a clear attempt to suppress dissent and create a hostile environment where the voices of the fishermen could be stifled. Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue, the state deployed a large police force to intimidate the protestors, using arbitrary arrests and excessive force to disperse the gatherings.

The police crackdown was marked by signs of brutality and disregard for basic human rights. Protestors were forcibly dragged away, shoved into police buses, and detained without proper justification. Reports indicate that some were denied access to legal aid and held in custody for extended hours without clear charges. The authorities’ decision to conduct overnight raids in search of protestors who had spoken to the media further demonstrates their intent to silence any opposition to the port project.

The betrayal by Fisheries Minister Mankal Vaidya has only deepened the outrage. Once a vocal opponent of the port under the previous BJP administration, he has now aligned himself with corporate interests, disregarding the very people he once promised to protect. His refusal to intervene meaningfully, despite multiple pleas from the fishing community, has fueled accusations of political opportunism and abandonment of his responsibilities.

Devastating impact on livelihoods

For the 6,000 families that depend on fishing as their primary source of income, the construction of the port represents an existential threat. Fishermen argue that the project will destroy crucial fishing zones, disrupt marine biodiversity, and render many of them jobless. Additionally, the planned four-lane road leading to the port has already displaced local vendors and affected small-scale businesses tied to the dried-fish industry. The community fears that further infrastructure development, including a railway line, could lead to mass displacement of around 600 families, stripping them of their ancestral lands and livelihoods.

The destruction of olive ridley turtle nesting sites is another critical concern. The coast of Kasarkod is an ecologically sensitive area, home to annual nesting of these critically endangered sea turtles. Despite documented evidence of nesting activity, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a fishermen-led petition in 2021, citing a flawed report from the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), which failed to account for the nesting season. Activists argue that the government and the courts have colluded to ignore environmental regulations in favour of corporate interests.

Legal and political setbacks

Efforts to halt the port project through legal channels have met repeated setbacks. In addition to the Karnataka High Court ruling, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) rejected a petition challenging the construction of the four-kilometer-long road on the grounds that it violated Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. Despite mounting evidence of environmental violations, authorities continue to push ahead with the project, disregarding the legitimate concerns of the local community.

The district administration’s use of excessive force to suppress the protest has further deepened the mistrust between the government and the fishing community. Reports suggest that police conducted overnight raids in search of protestors who had spoken to the media, raising concerns about the state’s attempts to silence dissent. The deployment of heavy security forces, including riot police, to facilitate the survey indicates that the state sees its own citizens as obstacles rather than stakeholders in development.

A community’s unwavering resistance

Despite facing repeated crackdowns, legal hurdles, and betrayals by their own representatives, the fishermen of Honnavar refuse to back down. Their struggle has become emblematic of the broader fight against unchecked industrial expansion at the cost of local communities and ecological sustainability. Fishermen leaders have vowed to continue their resistance until the port project is scrapped entirely.

The protests at Kasarkod are not just about a single infrastructure project; they represent a larger battle against corporate encroachment, environmental destruction, and the marginalisation of traditional coastal communities. The state’s heavy-handed approach, marked by repression and disregard for public sentiment, has only strengthened the resolve of the protestors. As the confrontation between the fisherfolk and the government intensifies, it remains to be seen whether the authorities will acknowledge the voices of the people or continue to prioritise industrial interests at their expense.

Related:

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Duty of GOI to ensure that innocent fishermen are not punished: SC

TN: Samsung Workers Continue Protest, Accuse Management of Vindictive Action

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The National Fishworkers’ Forum & National Alliance of People’s Movements will join hands to fight the destructive port & corridor based development model

Bringing into sharp focus, the ambitious –and allegedly ill-thought move of the Modi government to usher in high-cost port infrastructure development, especially of the Sagarmala project in Andhra Pradesh, a two-day national consultation on ‘Sagarmala’, just concluded in Delhi raises questions over the move. More than one lakh fish workers will participate in a series of protest actions against the move. The moot question is, will the media cover these protests?

Fishworkers and Fishing Communities to be Affected
Addressing the critical issues and concerns out of National Perspective Plan under the implementation for Sagarmala and Industrial Corridors along the Indian coastline, the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) leadership asserted that such projects were being approved without any thought going into the effects on the fishing community who are settled all along the coasts. The original Sagarmala plan articulated under former PM Mr. A.B Vajpayee has been modified with large scale land and ocean grabbing, displacing the people and their right to life, livelihood and dignity. Dangerous levels of ecological devastation has also been accelerated which is being sidelined in this massive push for development.
 
The ill effects of the Enayam port, an upcoming port in Tamil Nadu, were also showcased, especially the largescale displacement of persons from a thickly populated coastal district. The Vizhinjam port, already handed over to the Adani group (ironically even by the Left Front government carrying on a policy put in place by the Congress-led UDF!!), and which is likely to swallow up the entire coastline, is being vigorously opposed by the fishing community in Thiruvananthapuram district. Similarly, the expansion of the Kamraj Ennoore port, in Tamil Nadu, has already been opposed by community and experts alike. The democratic demand for thorough viability studies and that these be made public, as also the consent and involvement of the local community during the planning of such projects, has been high-lighted. The meet demanded an immediate cessation of all construction related activities must be done.
 
The Sagarmala project is primarily aimed at developing ports, transport through waterways and promote shipping, in other words it is just a port-based development model. However, a port-based development of multiple projects intended at bringing in foreign currency, should be understood differently from coastal development.
 
Serious concerns are being raised about the environmental effects on the coasts with issues like coastal erosion, coastal accretion as well as severe problems of dredging and the effects on the sea bed due to this. It is a fact that construction of breakwaters is leading to such disturbance in the ocean current that fishworkers are not able to go into the sea to fish. Moreover, the massive increase in ports and coming in of huge projects under Sagarmala is not in coordination with the requirement and the feasibility of having a huge number of ports.
 
Fishworkers from Kutch, Gujarat highlighted the severe effects of the Adani port and Adani, Tata and OPG thermal power plants in the Mundra area on the traditional small fishermen who have faced detrimental effects on their livelihoods. It was also mentioned that Adani acquired huge amounts of land on the coastline for the Mundra SEZ first, and caused all kinds of environmental violations. The most shocking has been the ease with which over 2500 acres of mangroves were removed and land filling was undertaken by Adani, with impunity. These projects have also brought out severe effects on the marine ecology where up to 25 kms of coastline you can find dead fish because of the massive amounts of toxins being released into the estuaries.
 
‘Sagarmala’ needs serious national assessment, due to varied level of complexities. The industrial corridors, the economic corridors, smart cities, coastal investment regions like PCPIR and Sagarmala are all a part of the larger plan for industrialization, which will destroy India’s vulnerable coastline.
 
De-monetization Hits the Fisher People
The leaders also noted that the NDA Government’s demonetisation effort, under the pretext of curtailing black money, is hurting the fishing community across India – other than many other formal and informal production sectors. Without scientifically assessed reasons and a detailed cost-benefit analysis, it is scary that the Central Government has gone ahead with such a scheme, jeopardising the lives of the majority Indians, to catch a minority engaged in black money and illegal transactions.
 
The NFF and the NAPM will be taking forward their struggles on these issues with further discussions at the NFF General Body in Tuticorin (December 9 and 10, 2016) and the NAPM National Convention in Patna (December 2-4, 2016).
 
The Campaign Points are

• The NDA II Government is trying to fool the coastal people by unviable projects
• Sagarmala will effectively promote real estate projects
• Joint actions planned by people’s movements in the entire coastal stretch between Gujarat and West Bengal
• More than One lakh of Fishworkers to participate in the series of actions
• NFF to hold Parliament Rally onNovember 21, 2016, on World Fisheries Day
• Coastal Yatra(s0 being planned by affected people from ten coastal states
• Consultation with communities demanded, to suit legitimate development needs in coastal areas
• “Privatisation and handing over of ports to companies like Adani will threaten India’s national national security”
• Fishworkers demand withdrawal of Sagarmala project
• Government should roll back the ‘Demonetisation’ policy, which has caused immense hardships to the coastal people and is hardly offering any scientific solution to the actual black money and corruption issue

(Issued on behalf of NFF: M. Ilango (Chairperson), Narendra Patil (Gen Secretary) and T. Peter (Secretary) NAPM: Rajendra Ravi (National Convener) and Madhuresh Kumar (National Organiser)
The Sagarmala project is being heavily promoted by business newspapers and publications. The Economic Times reports that “Sagarmala envisages port led development of the country that would include establishing new transshipment port, creating dedicated coastal berths ports for coastal shipping, setting up storage capacities at origin-destination ports to shorten turnaround time and developing adequate ship-repair facilities in the maritime states. 

The government has prepared a Rs 5 lakh crore plan, including private investment, to implement the Sagarmala project. More recently, the same paper stated that, “To give a push to port-led economic development under its ambitious Sagarmala project, the government today approved incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company under the Companies Act with Rs 1,000 crore as initial authorised share capital. 

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the Companies Act, 2013," an official statement said. Government to fast-track green clearances for Sagarmala project, too.
 

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