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Mundra waterfront project at the cost of 10,000

families?
Gaurav Sharma Posted: Dec 07, 2008 at 0148 hrs
Ahmedabad It seems the concerned authorities had turned a blind eye while formalising the proposal of Water
Front Development Plan (WFDP) promoted by the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (MPSEZL).

The Gujarat Pollution Control Board’s (GPCB) Environment Impact Assessment Report (EIA) states that the area
where the project is to come up does not have major fishing waters.

Interestingly, this claim has been contradicted by the data provided by the Fisheries Department, which revealed
the generation of an annual revenue of Rs 60.8 crore through fishing, the sole mode of survival for around 10,000
families in the region.

The site of the proposed WFDP, spread over an area of 3,200 hectares, comprises Tragadi, Navinal, Zarapara, Juna,
Luni, Shekhadia, Randh and Veera Bander, with an average annual fish catch of 12,027 MT.

Going by Fisheries Department data, WFDP will directly affect 1,017 families. Ishaaq Ali Muhammad’s family is one
of those. “Fishing is the only source of livelihood for us. If this waterfront comes up, all of us will starve to death,”
Ishaaq said.

When asked about the EIA, mentioning that the WFDP does not involve any kind of rehabilitation and resettlement
(R&R) of the affected families, J D Kalyani, Regional Officer, GPCB (Kutch), refused to comment. “I have nothing to
say on the EIA report,” he said.

Kutch Collector R R Varsani, on the other hand, said he had no knowledge on the matter. “I myself don’t know the
ground realities of this project. My job is only that of an umpire. I am not concerned with R&R issues at all. All I can
say is that the MPSEZL promoted by the Adani Group is doing a good job,” he said.

According to SETU Information Centre (SIC), a voluntary organisation working in Kutch, the backwardness of this
region can be judged from the fact that the women literacy rate here is only 2.3 per cent.

Usman Gani of the SIC said: “The 4-km wide stretch of the inter-tidal region is the main hunting zone for the
fishermen here. If this waterfront comes up, fishing activities will be obstructed and gradually vanish. Before
approving the WFDP, the government should announce a package to compensate the affected families.”

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