Honnavar port: Authorities push for four-lane road amid opposition

Pushing ahead with the project to build a port on Honnavar’s Kasarakod beach amid opposition from fishermen, the engineering wing of the port sub-division has submitted a fresh proposal to build a four-lane road to the proposed port with a brief note erroneously attributing a statement to the central expert appraisal committee (EAC).

In 2012, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) gave its clearance for building a port. However, a later addition to the project --- a road to connect the port to National Highway 66 --- has run into trouble. Hundreds of fishermen, who live on the shore, had complained of the damage the road would cause to their livelihood besides the fact that the beach was an olive ridley turtle nesting site.

The original proposal, submitted to Karnataka State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA), had the road passing through a forest area, sand dunes and turtle nesting area, intertidal zone and no development zone.

At a meeting of the EAC for Coastal Regulation Zone in September 2023, the project proponent claimed that the road alignment has been changed and the road “is now integrated part of the port”. On this basis, the authorities argued that since the port has received SEIAA clearance, the road should also get the clearance for being located within the port area.

Interestingly, in its fresh proposal before the KSCZMA, the project proponent presents a different picture of the EAC deliberation. “The EAC observed that the road alignment along the seashore has been shifted within the port limit area and the road project is now integrated part of the port given clearance on 21/09/2012,” the brief note states.

An activist noted that making a claim and passing it off as the observation of EAC may mislead the KSCZMA. “Wrong information may finally end up influencing the decision-making process in favour of the project proponent,” he said.

To a question, Raghavendra Reddy, executive engineer at Honnavar Port, told DH that they were proceeding after taking the clearances. “We have taken all the necessary permission from the authorities,” he said.