The Kerala High Court on Friday set aside the expert committee appointed by the state government to examine allegations of coastal erosion caused by the Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport, holding that the committee's constitution was flawed and that its final report should not be acted upon. Justice Harisankar V. Menon directed the state government to constitute a fresh and independent expert committee whose members have no conflict of interest, after considering the views of stakeholders, Live Law reported.

Source: Live Law

The judgment came in Nirmala Johny and Others v. State of Kerala and Others, a writ petition filed by residents of fishing villages situated within about 20 kilometres north of Vizhinjam — Bar and Bench put the number of petitioners at 128. The petitioners alleged that construction of the seaport, particularly its breakwaters, had caused substantial coastal erosion on the northern side and accretion on the southern side, damaging residential properties and traditional livelihoods. Those claims remain allegations; the court did not decide whether the port has in fact caused erosion.

Source: Bar and Bench

The committee, constituted by a government order dated October 6, 2022, was chaired by M. D. Kudale, former Additional Director of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, and included Dr Riji K. John, Dr Tejal Kanitkar and Dr P. V. Chandramohan. The court noted that Kudale had earlier served as an expert member of the technical sub-committee involved in developing the Vizhinjam port project itself — a fact not disputed by the respondents — and that his inclusion ought to have been avoided. Petitioners had also alleged that Chandramohan had been associated, as President (Technical), with Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, a company stated to have business connections with Adani Enterprises.

The committee had concluded that there was no coastal erosion caused by the port project. The court noted it had conducted only one site inspection, on May 23, 2023, followed by meetings with local residents on May 24, 2023, before preparing its final report. The state government had contended that the erosion was attributable to high wave activity and cyclonic conditions along the western coast rather than the seaport, and that the project sits between two rocky promontories, resulting in minimal longshore sediment transport.

Confining its review to the legality of the committee's constitution, the court declined to interfere with the inclusion of Dr Riji K. John, holding that the mere fact that his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies had been quashed did not establish disqualification. The court also recorded the government's submission that a separate committee constituted under National Green Tribunal directions is already monitoring shoreline changes. The fresh committee's findings will now determine, on evidence, whether the port's construction has contributed to the erosion that fishing villages north of Vizhinjam say they are facing.